Cats give 'Dogs a scare

They made it interesting for a half. The Columbia Falls boys soccer team actually led Whitefish 1-0 in their Sept. 29 game at home, but the rival Bulldogs answered with a goal to tie it and then pulled away in the second half for a 5-1 victory.

“They played pretty well for about 50 minutes,” Wildcat coach Peter Browne said about the Cats. “But our inexperienced showed.”

The team is playing much better than last year, but strong high school soccer teams play the sport year-round, and Columbia Falls’ team is either young, or made up of athletes who played other sports before joining the club — mainly football.

Even so, they have a shot at the playoffs. The Cats need to win their last two games — a match against Bigfork at home on Tuesday, which was played after presstime, and a match against Polson on Saturday. The Polson game starts at 11 a.m.

The Cats tied Libby on Sept. 25. Their overall record is now 2-6-2. The top two teams in the conference advance to the state playoffs.

Columbia Falls 1 1 – 2

Libby 1 1 – 2

L – Zander Petersen, 3:00

CF – Connor Williams, 25:00

L – Johnny Davidson, 42:00

CF – Casey Burghduff (assist Caleb Baumann), 49:00

Shots – Columbia Falls 5, Libby 8. Saves – Columbia Falls 7 (Mason Gedlaman), Libby 6 (Austin Nagle). Corner kicks – Columbia Falls 6, Libby 7. Total fouls – Columbia Falls 9, Libby 5. Yellow cards – none. Red cards – none.

Whitefish 1 4 – 5

Columbia Falls 1 0 – 1

C – Gavin Thalen, 22:00

W – Curran Edland (Iaian Cameron), 25:00

W – Sam Donaldson (Sean Janni), 53:00

W – Donaldson, 59:00

W - Janni (Donaldson), 66:00

W – Donaldson (Janni), 74:00

Shots – Whitefish 9, Columbia Falls 2. Saves – Whitefish 1 (Thomas Clark), Columbia Falls 6 (Mason Gedlaman). Corner kicks – Whitefish 3, Columbia Falls 2. Total fouls – Whitefish 10, Columbia Falls 6. Yellow cards – none. Red cards – none.