Whitefish boys tested on the pitch, but stay undefeated
The Bulldogs had their biggest test of the season thus far when they traveled to Livingston last weekend.
Taking on the Park Rangers on their home field proved tough for Whitefish soccer, but led again by their seniors, the Bulldogs won 4-3.
“Livingston is a good team and it wouldn’t surprise me if we see them again sometime during the playoffs,” Whitefish head coach John Lacey expressed.
The Rangers came out strong, quickly scoring a goal in the fifth minute of the game. Whitefish finally scored an equalizer when Ryder Elliot put away a shot off of a pass from teammate Darby McCarthy in the 23rd minute. Bulldog senior Chase Sabin found the net just a few minutes later to give his team their first lead of the game.
The Rangers tied it up at 2-2 just before halftime.
Park’s Alec Dalby snuck a shot past Bulldog goalkeeper Will Peppmeier in the 62nd minute, and the Bulldogs were again behind the Rangers.
“The game started with us in a hole… so right away the boys knew we were going to have to push for it,” Lacey said. “Later on in the game we had to come from behind again in the second half. Those experiences are really good for us. It forces us to play better soccer, it forces us to stay mentally in a game for the full 80 minutes.”
It was only a couple short minutes later though when Whitefish pushed back with a goal from Collin Lyman and then senior captain Gabe Menicke scored the go-ahead goal with just six minutes left in the game.
Menicke has scored 15 goals already this season and is second in the Class A scoring leader stats to Columbia Falls’ Kai Golan.
Whitefish also played Bigfork last Tuesday, Sept. 21 and won 7-0.
Multiple players got in the scoring column for Whitefish in that one including two goals by senior captain Aaron Dicks, two more from Lyman and one each from Charlie Hyatt, Sabin and Lou Kofal.
Bigfork kept things pretty close in the first half, but after a good half time talk Whitefish came out firing. Lyman scored his two and Sabin scored one all in about six minutes into the second half.
“It was a bit of a clunker at the start, we did not come out and play our best,” Lacey said. “But had a halftime reset and came out, got back to where we wanted to be.”
The Bulldogs are now 8-0 this season and lead the Northwest A.
Over the next couple of weeks the Bulldogs will play four games over an eight-day stretch starting on Thursday. Lacey says that many games lumped together will be a significant challenge for the team.
“The four games in eight days is going to test us, and of course it's during homecoming when all the programs are pulled in a lot of different directions…” Lacey said. “There’s going to be a significant devotion to managing players' minutes.”
Whitefish will play Libby for its homecoming game at Memorial Field at Whitefish High School beginning at 5 p.m. on Thursday. Then the Dogs will host Columbia Falls at 10 a.m. on Saturday at Smith Fields.
“Saturday is of course the big one with Columbia Falls,” Lacey said. “They gave us a real run when we were over there and they’re in second place (behind Whitefish).”
Whitefish 2 5 — 7
Bigfork 0 0 — 0
WF — Charlie Hyatt 10:00
WF — Aaron Dicks (Chase Sabin) 30:00
WF — Collin Lyman (Sabin) 42:00
WF — Sabin (Lyman) 43:00
WF — Lyman (Hyatt) 44:00
WF — Dicks (Lyman) 55:00
WF — Lou Kofal 71:00
Shots — WF 12, Bigfork 4. Goalie saves — WF 4 (Will Peppmeier, Ethan Schott), Bigfork 7 (Caden Riedesel). Corner kicks — WF 6, Bigfork 1. Fouls — WF 10, Bigfork 5.
Whitefish 2 2 — 4
Park 2 1 — 3
P — Calvin Caplis 5:00
WF — Ryder Elliott (Darby McCarthy) 23:00
WF — Chase Sabin (Charlie Hyatt) 26:00
P — John Hasbrook 40:00
P — Alec Dalby 62:00
WF — Collin Lyman (Gabe Menicke) 65:00
WF — Menicke (Sabin) 74:00
Shots — WF 9, Park 5. Goalie saves — WF 2 (Will Peppmeier), Park 4 (Brandon Smith). Fouls — WF 7, Park 5.