Injuries plague 'Dogs trip east; boys lose twice

Down 2-5 with four minutes left against Laurel High School, Bulldogs boys soccer coach O'Brien Byrd looked down his bench in search of an answer.

What he found was the stark reality that he only had one player left on the roster that wasn't bruised, battered or left with a concussion.

The depleted Bulldogs lost on Saturday to Laurel 5-1, after losing a day earlier to Class A powerhouse Billings Central 4-1.

"We were a little thin going in," Byrd said of his team's shallow bench on the road trip east.

Which might be the understatement of the season.

Forward Jack Steele was sidelined with a knee ligament sprain, senior Cristian Saavedra pulled his quad muscle, captain Matt Danczyk had a stomped foot, Joel Bacher was suffering from back spasms, and John Joran endured a minor concussion in the game against Laurel.

And to make matters worse, varsity goalie Alex Whitaker is out for two weeks, forcing inexperienced freshman Thomas Clark into the starting role.

Billings Central, the team that knocked Whitefish from the playoffs last season, drilled Clark with 14 shots on goal in Friday's game, scoring on four of the attempts.

"Thomas was thrown into the fire," Byrd said. "He had some real nice saves and held his own in there."

Central's Kevin Klee opened the scoring with a goal at the seven-minute mark and Cody Dutton added another with 22 minutes to play in the first half.

Whitefish battled back to cut the lead in half with a goal from Cody Ling off a pass from Danczyk just before halftime.

But Central's 12 seniors were too much in the second half for Whitefish's bruised roster as Billings rolled to a 4-1 victory in the nonconference game.

Byrd was impressed with Central's play but emphasized that if they meet again in the playoffs, Billings will see a much different Bulldogs team from what was presented on this trip.

The following day, Whitefish traveled to Laurel to take on the class A Locomotives on the artificial turf of the LHS Sports Complex.

Whitefish jumped out to an early 2-1 lead behind goals from Jon Reimer and Travis Adams, but the short bench caught up with the 'Dogs in the second half as Laurel posted four more goals.

"We played with heart against Laurel," Byrd said. "Down 5-2, with no one left to sub, with four minutes on the clock, our guys were still running around playing tough. Given the circumstances, the response was great."

Byrd said senior Travis Adams' performance in the Laurel game was the absolute example of a captain who continues to lead, even when times are rough.

"Travis played the entire time, both games, and never gave up," Byrd said.

He says that attitude from the team's captain is vital to keeping the underclassmen focused on the game when all hope seems to be lost.

Next up for the 'Dogs is Bigfork in the season's first Northwestern A conference game.

Byrd says most of his injured players should be back for the match, excluding Steele, who may need longer to rest his knee.

In preparation for the game, Byrd gave his team some much-needed rest over the Labor Day weekend.

"I gave the guys 48 hours off to prepare," he said, chuckling about the team's recent bad luck with injuries.

The Bulldogs will work on some different defensive tactics in practice this week, trying to sort out which formation works best in an effort to keep the shot attempts down on freshman keeper Clark.

"We have to defend better for him (Clark) as a team," Byrd said. "We put him on the firing line this week."

Whitefish plays at Bigfork on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. and at home against Hamilton on Saturday.

Whitefish 2, Laurel 5

Whitefish — Jon Reimer (Travis Adams' 11:00; Adams (Reimer), 40:00

Laurel — Collyn Hons, 21:00; Tyson Adams, 48:00; Hons, 50:00; Alex Gappa, 62:00; Hons, 75:00.

Shots on goal — Whitefish 14, Laurel 12

Corner kicks — Whitefish 9, Laurel 2

Saves — Whitefish 6 (Thomas Clark), Laurel 5 (Branden Ness)

Fouls — Whitefish 9, Laurel 11

Cards — None

Whitefish 1, Billings Central 4

Whitefish — Cody Ling (Matt Danczky), 34:00

Billings Central — Kevin Klee, 7:00; Cody Dutton, 18:00; Mikey Wall, 45:00; Dutton, 74:00

Shots on goal — Whitefish 8, Billings Central 14

Corner kicks — Whitefish 1, Billing Central 7

Saves — Whitefish 10, Billings Central 7

Fouls — Whitefish 2, Billings Central 2

Cards — None