Bulldogs' season down to the wire

"It was a story of too little, too late," Bulldog soccer coach O'Brien Byrd said.

Whitefish played an uninspired first half at Polson on Oct. 3 as a feisty Pirates team knocked off the Bulldogs 1-0. The defeat dropped the 'Dogs from first in the Northern A conference to third — putting them outside of the state playoff window.

Only the top two teams in the conference make the playoffs.

Peter Hanson scored the game's only goal in the 40th minute off a penalty kick to lead the Pirates to the win.

"We didn't show up to the game with any intensity, drive or heart," Byrd said. "We showed up thinking Polson would lie down for us.

"They got a penalty kick right before halftime, and that was finally motivation for us to start trying harder."

The 'Dogs controlled the second half, keeping the ball in Pirates' territory for the final 40 minutes, but couldn't find many opportunities to score.

Polson held Whitefish scoreless in both of their games this season.

Byrd said the loss served as a reality check for the 'Dogs, who are now in jeopardy of missing the playoffs.

"They have to make a decision on what they want out of the season," he said. "It would be real easy to play two games and not care about the results and be done. Or they can make a commitment."

The 'Dogs (4-1-1) are now third in the conference, behind Libby and Polson. If Whitefish wins their final two games, they make the playoffs. They play Columbia Falls on Thursday and Libby on Saturday.

"A lot can happen next week," Byrd said. "We can't look past Columbia Falls. They are playing for pride and maybe a little bit of revenge. Come game day, we have to flip on the switch."

Whitefish 3, Bigfork 2

With a single strike of the ball, Anto Daoud etched his name on the Bulldog's 2009 highlight reel.

The senior soccer player — who was moved up from JV just prior to the game — saved the 'Dogs from letting two leads slip away against a scrappy Bigfork team when he struck gold in the 75th minute.

After trading elbows with the Vikings' stingy defense for most of the second half, Daoud finally found an opening in the middle of the penalty box. John Joern squeezed a pass through traffic to Daoud, who was sprinting toward the goal. Bigfork's goalkeeper came out for the block, but Daoud easily knocked it past him to the left corner of the net — putting the Bulldogs on top for good.

With the goal, Whitefish took the Sept. 28 home game 3-2.

"It felt good," Daoud said with a giant smile as he received pats of congratulations after the game. "I've been working up to varsity all year. Soccer is the greatest game. I love it."

"Anto's attribute is obviously his tremendous speed," Byrd said. "He is a track star."

Daoud is filling in for Jack Steele, who is out with an injury to his knee.

Matty McCrone opened the scoring for Whitefish in the 19th minute off a pass from John Reimer, but Bigfork quickly equalized with a penalty kick from Alec MacCallum to tie the score a 1-1.

The Vikings controlled time of possession in the first half, but the final 40 minutes was all Whitefish.

"What a second half," Byrd told his players after the game. "You guys about gave me a heart attack."

A typically subdued figure on the sideline, Byrd was riled by the close match and often left the bench to shout commands at his players.

"On paper we are supposed to win that game easily," Byrd said. "But paper doesn't go very far on game day. That's the best I've seen Bigfork play. We had some homecoming jitters and we kept Bigfork in it."

Whitefish struggled to connect on their shot attempts early in the second half, with Travis Adams firing two rockets that just missed the net — one bounced off the right goal post and another soared just over the cross bar.

Junior Taylor Thompson finally hit in the 58th minute off a pass from Casey Beiser to put Whitefish up 2-1.

Yet, Bigfork equalized again on a penalty kick by Alec MacCallum with 10 minutes left in the game.

It took Daoud's heroics in the final five minutes to deliver the much-needed win. Whitefish moved to 6-2-1 overall and 4-0-1 in conference play with the victory.