Wildkats get back at Whitefish, win 2-1

They kept the pressure on throughout the game and it paid off with a big win. The Columbia Falls girls soccer team avenged an earlier season loss by downing the Whitefish Lady Bulldogs 2-1 on Oct. 10 in Whitefish.

On a cold, wet, drizzly evening, the Wildkats outshot Whitefish 20-5. Whitefish opened the scoring with a goal by Haley Nicholson at the 15-minute mark, but Haley Purdy answered seven minutes later with a shot from 15 yards out on a feed from Lindsay Strouse to tie the game.

That left the score tied at the half. Whitefish put the pressure on early in the second half, but the Kats defense, led by Megan Seliger, staved off the Dogs.

The Bulldogs briefly thought they went up 2-1 after a shot went in following a Bulldogs collision with Wildkat keeper Andrea Getts, but the goal was waved off because Whitefish was offside.

The Kats then turned the tide and kept the pressure up. Strouse found the back of the net after a collision with Whitefish keeper Piper Greenwood. Purdy got the save.

Unlike their first meeting, the Kats continued to press hard for the last 13 minutes and had plenty of shots on Whitefish’s goal — they just didn’t find the back of the net.

“The girls played hard and won the midfield,” coach Greg Trenerry said.

Trenerry also made some defensive changes. Moving speedy Kendra King from offense to defense made a difference.

The loss dropped Whitefish to 6-1 in conference play.

On Oct. 8, the Kats dispatched Polson 3-0. Sydney Grilley and Katie Price each got their first goals of the season. Grilley plays defense, but she was up on a corner kick and knocked in a goal on her first press.

The Kats are 6-2-3 overall and 5-1-1 in conference. An earlier tie to Polson this season ruined their chances at a Northern Class A title.

They faced Libby at home to end the regular season Tuesday after presstime.

The girls will travel to Hamilton on Saturday.

The Lady Broncs dropped Whitefish earlier this year, 3-1. Hamilton is the No. 1 seed in the Southern Class A conference and are 11-0-1 overall.

“I expect them to be a tough team,” Trenerry said.