Boys knock off Cats, face Loyola in playoffs

Whitefish capped off their perfect run

through the Northern A conference with another shut out. The Dogs

easily rolled past rival Columbia Falls Oct. 7 in a 7-0 victory

that marked their ninth consecutive win.

Whitefish’s regular season record is at

8-0 in the league and 10-2 overall. The boys haven’t lost a match

since Sept. 2 when they fell to Billings Central.

“Winning the conference was a team

goal,” senior defender Joe Perry said.

“I’m proud that we did it undefeated,

too,” captain Matty McCrone added.

While Whitefish easily won most of the

league matches this season, a few teams were tough to shake, senior

Mark Stormes said.

“Some battled us surprisingly hard,” he

said.

Thursday’s match at Columbia Falls

didn’t prove to be one of those tough battles.

Whitefish opened a 4-0 lead in the

opening 40 minutes. Sean Janni, Elior Rossi and Sam Donaldson each

tallied in the half.

Connor Gray led with two goals in the

second half and Nathan Boone added another in the 68th minute.

Whitefish coach O’Brien Byrd called the

match one of the most impressive he’s seen the team play this

season.

“We turned in a very focused and

complete game,” Byrd said. “I was really excited about our back

line. They communicated and stayed locked in, with very little

errors. They were totally in sync.”

The defensive unit includes Perry, Jon

Dittman, Koltin Simmes, Skylar Munzing and goalkeeper Thomas

Clark.

Whitefish opens the playoffs Saturday

at home as the No. 1 seed in the North when they face Missoula

Loyola, the No. 3 seed from the Southern A conference. The match is

slated for Saturday, Oct. 15 at 2 p.m. at Smith Fields.

“They’ve turned in some tough results,”

Byrd said about Loyola. “I know they are going be competitive.”

Billings Central is the No. 1 seed in

the East and Hamilton is the No. 1 seed in the South.

Whitefish 4 3 - 7

Columbia Falls 0 0 - 0

W - Own goal, 5:00

W - Sean Janni (Nathan Boone),

10:00

W - Elior Rossi, 33:00

W - Sam Donaldson (Tommy Murphy),

34:00

W - Connor Gray (Donaldson), 46:00

W - Gray (Mark Stormes) 56:00

W - Boone (Matty McCrone) 68:00

Shots - Whitefish 14, Columbia Falls 0.

Saves - Whitefish 0, Columbia Falls 12 (Anthony Correa). Corner

kicks - Whitefish 9, Columbia Falls 0. Total fouls - Whitefish 10,

Columbia Falls 8. Yellow cards - none. Red cards - none.