Bigfork girls nearly nab first win of the season

It wasn’t a win, but it wasn’t a loss. The Valkyries soccer team, which is currently winless after seven games, finished its home game on Saturday against Libby with a 1-1 tie.

A goal by junior Emily Stevens, assisted by Miranda Miller in the 38th minute gave Bigfork a 1-0 lead.

“That was exciting. It looked like we were going to hold on to it too,” said Bigfork head girls soccer coach Charlie Appleby. “But I need to teach them to hold on to the lead. That’s on me. I need to teach them to put in an insurance goal and hang on to it. That’s my job. They had plenty of opportunities.”

The Vals enjoyed their lead, which was their first of the season, until a penalty was called in the 68th minute. Multiple girls from both teams collided inside the box attempting to gain control of the ball. One of Bigfork’s players was called for a foul for shoving one of her opponents.

The ball was given to Libby’s Myka Forster for a penalty kick, which Bigfork’s goalkeeper Jazzmyn Musser was unable to deflect. Neither team was able to score again after that point.

“I think the girls played well. We are getting better every game,” Appleby said. “No matter the opponent, they are stepping up to the challenge. I am really proud of them.”

In Columbia Falls

The Valkyries faced the Columbia Falls Wildkats for the second time in less than a month in an away game on Friday.

Although the Bigfork girls showed improvement from the 8-0 defeat they incurred during their Aug. 30 home opener with Columbia Falls, they were still unable to score against their conference foes and lost 5-0.

“This was a game that I had circled on my calendar to show the girls how far they have come this season,” Appleby said. “This was the first team we played this season, so it was great to get to show the girls how much they have improved.”

Despite the appearance of the final score, the Vals held their opponents off well in the first half. The Wildkats scored in the 21st minute, but were unable to add to their score until the 44th minute.

“That’s one of the best halves of soccer that we’ve had against Columbia Falls since I’ve been coaching here,” Appleby said. “I was just really impressed. We were really going to the ball, challenging everything and really starting to pressure them. It was kind of cool because both (Columbia Falls head girls soccer coach) Greg Trenerry and the referees said something to me about how the girls had really improved since last time we played them.”

However, beginning in the 52nd minute the Wildkats scored three additional goals over the course of seven minutes.

“We let our heads get down on that second goal because we really thought that we had something going on when we were down by just one,” Appleby said. “I think it comes down to something I need to work with them on, and that’s playing strong in the first 20 minutes of the second half. That’s something we just have really been struggling with and now we are going to focus on it.”

The Vals will be able to get a little more practice in this week as they have only one game — a 3 p.m. game on Thursday in Polson.