Lady Dogs fall short in weekend matches
Olivia Potthoff attacks the net Friday against Laurel.
It was a tough weekend for the Lady Bulldogs, who dropped a pair of close matches against Laurel and Billings Central.
On Friday Whitefish couldn’t get the scoring necessary to beat Laurel, falling 3-1.
Abigail Shaffer scored the Lady Dogs’ lone goal in the 20th minute, assisted by Anna Cook.
Keeper Sami Galbraith had eight saves on 13 shots on goal.
The following day ended with the same score, again Whitefish on the short end.
Emma Barron scored a late goal in the 66th minute to get Whitefish on the board, but it was too little too late.
Head coach Roland Benedict said the score doesn’t tell the whole story.
“Honestly I think we played great,” he said. “When you get teams like us and Laurel, or us and Billings, when you get those teams together, mistakes are made and you concede goals. The more we work on our attacking play, we could easily end up winning those games.”
Benedict said being aggressive on offense is going to be the focal point this week.
The Lady Dogs traveled to Columbia Falls Tuesday after presstime for a rivalry battle with the Wildkats.
“They’re dangerous,” Benedict said of Columbia Falls on Monday. “O’Brien [Byrd] plays a very similar style, he’s got some players that really fit well into his system. We’ve got to be ready for that, and minimize their chances on goal. Then go at them, take it to them on the front foot, and on the home turf I think is the best way to attack a team like that.”
Laurel 3 0 — 3
Whitefish 1 0 — 1
L — Gracey Willis, 5:00
L — Morgan Maack (Maeson Cotter), 7:00
W — Abigail Shaffer (Anna Cook), 20:00
L — Chloe Baumann, 24:00
Shots on goal — Laurel 13, Whitefish 9; Corner kicks — Laurel 3, Whitefish 2; Keeper saves — Laurel 5 (Mya Hansen), Whitefish 8 (Sami Galbraith); Fouls — Laurel 15, Whitefish 5; Cards — Laurel, 1 yellow.
Billings Central 2 1 — 3
Whitefish 0 1 — 1
BC – Morgan Ferestad (Solei Elletson), 9:00
BC – Solei Elletson, 26:00
BC – Solei Elletson, 59:00
W – Emma Barron, 66:00
Shots on goal – Central 22, Whitefish 6; Corner kicks – Central 4, Whitefish 0; Keeper saves – Central 4, Whitefish 12; Fouls – Central 5, Whitefish 8; Cards – None.