Boys knock off Laurel

When the clock hit zero in the Bulldogs’ quarterfinal playoff match against Laurel, the game still remained undecided.

With a 0-0 score at the end of regulation and two overtime periods, the two teams battled it out in penalty kicks and Whitefish emerged victorious, hitting four to Laurel’s three shots to end the game.

“We were just solid and tight the whole time,” head coach John Lacey said. “Nobody really broke through with great chances, it was a testament to the great defense we played.

“Realistically, in playoff soccer, you need a result. It was great to just hold on and get the win. I was really proud of our guys,” Lacey added.

The Dogs (9-3-1) started first in the penalty session, with Ian Grover connecting and Casey Schneider, Quinten Joos and Noah Romagnuolo following suit.

Laurel made its attempts at 1-3-4.

Whitefish only managed three shots on goal before the penalty period, compared to Laurel’s seven.

It was a huge win for a shorthanded Bulldogs squad. Two key starters — goalie Colter Upton and co-captain Avery Hirsch — did not play because of injuries. Goalkeeping duties fell to sophomore Bradlee Anderson and freshman Marvin Kimera.

“They did great. It doesn’t matter if you make great saves or simple ones, if you can win 0-0 the goalie is a big part of that, you’ve done your job,” Lacey said. “Especially for Marvin, who hasn’t really been a keeper before, he’s a third string guy and primarily an attacker, so for him to come in and help us win a penalty kick shootout was outstanding. Both of those guys did great, I was really proud of them.”

Lacey said Upton is out for the season, but he expects Hirsch to be ready to go on Saturday.

“Our goalies are going to have to step forward to get to where we want to go in these next few games,” Lacey said.

Whitefish advances to semifinal action on Saturday at Frenchtown. The two schools did not play during the regular season.

Lacey said the plan is to get his team scoring like they’ve been all season long.

“Frenchtown is a bit of a surprise,” he said. “Our team has been building to this, we knew we’d get to this stage — I don’t know if Frenchtown did. I think they’re confident, they have a number of players who will score goals. So we know a little bit about them, but we’ll go into it probably just focused on our games, trying to make sure we get back to scoring goals, and hopefully the guys on defense give us another good team effort.”

Whitefish 0 0 0 0 — 0 (4)

Laurel 0 0 0 0 — 0 (3)

(Penalty Kicks)

Whitefish — Ian Grover, Casey Schneider, Quinten Joos and Noah Romagnuolo (shots made 1-2-4-5)

Laurel — NA (shots made 1-3-4)

Match Stats

Shots on goal — Whitefish 3, Laurel 7; Corner kicks — Whitefish 3, Laurel 4; Goalie saves — Whitefish 7 (Bradlee Anderson, Marvin Kimera), Laurel 3 (McMurrey); Fouls: Whitefish 5, Laurel 11; Cards — NA.