Lady Dogs' season ends in OT thriller

The Lady Bulldogs’ stellar season came to a close as Whitefish fell in an overtime heartbreaker 3-2 Saturday in their first playoff match against the Belgrade Panthers.

Haley Nicholson got the match’s first score in the 31st minute, nailing a free kick from 25 yards out to put Whitefish up 1-0 going into halftime.

Belgrade’s Parker Edwins scored two quick goals in the first three minutes of the second half to put the Panthers ahead 2-1, but Nicholson came right back to tie the score on a penalty kick in the 44th minute. From there on it was a defensive battle, until 80 minutes were up and both teams’ seasons hinged on overtime.

Edwins broke free for her third goal of the day in the first overtime to put the Panthers up 3-2, and that was enough to win the match.

“It’s tough — there’s so many emotions,” coach Roland Benedict said about talking to his team after the loss. “I just told them, ‘hey, we played hard.’ Sometimes the ball doesn’t roll the right way, that’s the way it works.”

“They made some reads against some errors in how we were playing and scored goals. It’s still an emotional thing, you don’t want to lose, but we played a really good team.”

Benedict said his team led in time of possession with 58 percent in the game, but Belgrade’s speed was a deciding factor in the match.

Whitefish also led in shots on goal 14 to 6. Goalkeeper Kess Nelson had four saves to Belgrade’s 10.

“We played well, we were the better team. We had more possession and more shots and couldn’t get it done,” he said.

This was the last match for the team’s six seniors, which includes Nicholson, Nelson, Julia Houston, Mellisa Pollard, Katie Blankenship and Mckayla Stone.

“I couldn’t ask for a better group of senior girls. They got it done. It’s just not where they wanted to finish, but they performed,” Benedict said.

The Lady Dogs finish the season with a record of 9-4, claiming the Northwest A conference title with a 7-1 record. Although the team fell short of its ultimate goal, Benedict said he’s still impressed with the season they put together.

“I think the season as a whole was fantastic. The ending and results we got didn’t match the success of our season, which is a bummer,” he said. “This was definitely a state semifinal team minimum, in my opinion, but we just couldn’t get there.”

Benedict pointed to underclassmen, like freshmen Anna Cook, Grace Benkelmen and Olivia Potthoff, as big keys to the season’s success who will be playing big roles over the next three seasons.

Scoring phenom Haley Nicholson finished the season with a league-high 29 goals on the year and a Montana High School Association record of 98 goals in her career. Benedict said Nicholson hasn’t chosen where she’s going to college yet, but she’ll be worth keeping an eye on in the future.

“She’s the most prolific goal scorer in Montana Class A history. Every game she scored goals, every single game she got it done. She’s a phenomenal player and she’s going to flare when she goes to college. She’s going to be a fun player to keep tabs on through her collegiate career,” he said.

Belgrade 0 2 1 0 — 3

Whitefish 1 1 0 0 — 2

W—Haley Nicholson (free kick), 31:00

B—Parker Edwins, 42:00

B—Edwins, 41:00

W—Nicholson (penalty kick), 44:00

B—Edwins, 87:00

Shots—Belgrade 6, Whitefish 14. Saves—Belgrade 10 (Emily Cady), Whitefish 4 (Kess Nelson). Corner kicks—Belgrade 1, Whitefish 4. Fouls—Belgrade 7, Whitefish 3. Cards—none.