Bulldogs outscore opponents 21-0 in dominant week
Casey Schneider fights past a Billings Central during a Saturday afternoon blowout. (Daniel McKay/Whitefish Pilot)
Whitefish's Marvin Kimera fights past a Billings Central defender during a home win on Saturday. (Daniel McKay/Whitefish Pilot)
Ian Lacey gets ready to attack the Billings defense. (Daniel McKay/Whitefish Pilot)
James Thompson attacks the net in Saturday's blowout of Billings Central. (Daniel McKay/Whitefish Pilot)
The Bulldogs continued their undefeated streak while scoring 21 goals on the pitch in three games last week.
Whitefish started its scoring barrage last Tuesday with an 8-0 win over Bigfork.
The scoring came from all over, with seven different players scoring. Sam Menicke, Ian Lacey (2), James Thompson, Casey Schneider, Gabe Menicke, Marvin Kimera and Riley Arendt all made it past the Vikings goalie, who had to contest the Bulldogs’ 20 shots on goal.
Schneider had three assists in that game.
Then on Friday and Saturday the team hosted Laurel and Billings Central, coming away with 6-0 and 7-0 wins.
Schneider and Sam Menicke both scored two goals each against Laurel, all in the first half. Aaron Vicks and Kimera found the net in the second half to cap off the scoring.
The 7-0 beatdown of Central finished off the weekend.
Gabe Menicke had a hat trick in that game, assisted twice by his brother, Sam. Menicke scored two quick goals in the third and ninth minutes before adding one more in the 44th minute. Schneider also added a pair of goals, and Chase Sabin scored a late, 77th minute goal.
Head coach John Lacey said despite the score, the first game against Bigfork was a slow start, but the team found its rhythm over the weekend.
“I can’t complain with the results, obviously. We didn’t play that well against Bigfork, but it kind of gave us a little extra momentum to play stronger when it came time for Laurel and Billings,” he said. “We finished better than we started.”
Lacey said he was also happy to see the variety of kids scoring for his team.
“It’s really good to see more players get involved,” Lacey said. “Several of our seniors now, they’ve played a lot of soccer with Whitefish and had a lot of success. I think they’re enjoying this year and it’s really fun to watch them at the peak of their high school career, but by the same token there’s a lot of other kids that are going to put their stamp on the high school too.”
This week the Bulldogs faced Polson on Tuesday after press time. On Saturday they head south to take on Corvallis, the one other undefeated Class A team.
The Polson Pirates last year were the only team that snatched away a Bulldog victory with a late-season tie just before playoffs began. Whitefish then defeated the Pirates in the Class A State Championship at the end of the season.
However, Lacey said a lot of those key players graduated.
“Polson lost a lot of its strength last year. They’ve been really good the last couple year. We’ve had good matches, but I don’t know that we’re going to face that same team this year. But it’s a conference opponent, so we’re not taking anything for granted,” he said.
Likewise, he’s excited to see how Corvallis looks in a battle of the unbeatens.
“If they hold through and we do our job against Polson, then Saturday should settle the last of the undefeateds,” Lacey said. “I’m looking forward to the match for sure.”
Whitefish 3 5 — 8
Bigfork 0 0 — 0
W — Sam Menicke (Casey Schneider) 5:00
W — Ian Lacey (Chase Sabin) 14:00
W — James Thompson (Schneider) 27:00
W — Schneider (Gabe Menicke) 44:00
W — Lacey (Schneider) 45:00
W — G. Menicke (Lacey) 48:00
W — Marvin Kamera 70:00
W — Riley Arendt (Thompson) 75:00
Shots on goal — Whitefish 20, Bigfork 1; Goalie saves — Whitefish 1 (Colter Upton, Bradlee Anderson). Bigfork 12 (Caden Riedesel); Corner kicks — Whitefish 8, Bigfork 1; Fouls — Whitefish 13, Bigfork 2; Cards — None.
Laurel 0 0 — 0
Whitefish 4 2 — 6
G — Casey Schneider (Gabe Menicke) 9:00
G — Sam Menicke (Josh Gunderson) 15:00
G — Sam Menicke (Casey Schneider) 19:00
G — Casey Schneider (Chase Sabin) 20:00
G — Aaron Vicks 60:00
G — Marvin Kimera (Riley Arendt) 68:00
Shots on goal — Whitefish 11, Laurel 6; Goalie saves — Whitefish 6, Laurel 5; Corner kicks — Whitefish 4, Laurel 1; Fouls — Whitefish 7, Laurel 6; Cards — Whitefish 1, Laurel 1.
Whitefish 4 3 — 7
Billings Central 0 0 — 0
W — Gabe Menicke (Ian Lacey), 3:00
W — Gabe Menicke (Sam Menicke), 9:00
W — Lacey (Sam Menicke), 16:00
W — Casey Schneider (Colter Upton), 20:00
W — Gabe Menicke (Sam Menicke), 44:00
W — Schneider (Sam Menicke), 52:00
W — Chase Sabin, 77:00
Shots on goal — Whitefish 18, Billings 4; Saves — Whitefish 4, (Upton 2, Bradlee Anderson, Will Peppmeier), Billings 11 (Myles Ragar); Corner kicks — Whitefish 2, Billings 0; Fouls — Whitefish 15, Billings 2; No cards.