East-side soccer teams defeat Wildcats at home
Two Eastern Montana soccer teams beat the Wildcats at home last week, but the local boys won their season-opening conference game.
The Livingston Rangers broke a 1-1 tie in the 60th minute and held off the Wildcats for a 3-2 nonconference Class A win on Friday, Sept. 2.
Caleb Baumann found the net twice for Columbia Falls (1-2). His second goal came in the 77th minute on a feed from Alex Van Horn, pulling his team within one at 3-2.
"Probably the best team we played so far," Columbia Falls coach Peter Browne said, adding that the Wildcats "played pretty well."
Livingston won despite committing 19 fouls to the Wildcats' six.
Browne credited midfielder Dylan Corbett with a good game and said he enjoyed seeing Baumann get a couple goals.
"We just need to get better every week," the coach said. "They played with their hearts tonight."
Livingston 1 2 - 3
Columbia Falls 0 2 - 2
L - Liam Scott Goal scorer (unassisted), 2:50
CF - Caleb Baumann, 49:00
L - Evan Barrett, 60:00
L - Callum Dickerson, 74:00
CF - Baumann, Alex Van Horn, 77:00
Shots - Livingston 17, Columbia Falls 16.
Saves - Livingston 14 (Quint Bishop), Columbia Falls 14 (Anthony Correa). Corner kicks - Livingston 2, Columbia Falls 0. Total fouls - Livingston 19, Columbia Falls 7. Yellow cards - none. Red cards - none.
Cats vs. Panthers
Corbett had the lone goal for Columbia Falls in their 2-1 loss to Belgrade on Saturday, Sept. 3. He scored on a penalty kick in the 74th minute for the Wildcats.
Scoring for the Panthers in the Class A nonconference game were Tyler DeBuse and Nathan Justice.
Anthony Correa made nine saves in goal for Columbia Falls, which fell to 1-3-0.
Belgrade 1 1 - 2
Columbia Falls 0 1 - 1
B - Tyler DeBuse, 13:00
B - Nathan Justice, 49:00
CF - Dylan Corbett, 74:00
Shots - Belgrade 19, Columbia Falls 16. Saves - Belgrade 14 (Kyle Priess), Columbia Falls 9 (Anthony Correa). Corner kicks - Belgrade 5, Columbia Falls 4. Total fouls - Belgrade 13, Columbia Falls 14. Yellow cards - Columbia Falls 1. Red cards - none.
Cats vs. Vikings
Two late goals gave the Columbia Falls Wildcats the victory in Bigfork on Aug. 30, leaving them 1-0 in conference and 1-1 overall.
The home-team Vikings were up 1-0 at halftime, but Talen Stringer scored for Columbia Falls in the 73rd minute. He was followed six minutes later by Baumann with the go-ahead goal.
The Vikings had held the lead for much of the game after Austin Gordon scored in the 22nd minute on an assist from Matt Killian.
"(Columbia Falls) stayed in the game and fought to the very end," Bigfork boys soccer coach Keith Koslosky said. "My hat's off to them."
Columbia Falls 0 2 - 2
Bigfork 1 0 - 1
Columbia Falls - Talen Stringer, 73:00; Caleb Boumann, 79:00.
Bigfork - Austin Gordon (Matt Killian) 22:00.
Shots on goal - Columbia Falls 11, Bigfork 11
Goalie saves - Columbia Falls 5 (Anthony Correa 5), Bigfork 6 (Dillon Hilling 6)
Corner kicks - Columbia Falls 8, Bigfork 4
Fouls - Columbia Falls 13, Bigfork 7