Bulldogs keep a clean sheet over two matches

Whitefish’s team effort Friday and Saturday helped the Bulldogs to begin the season with two shutout wins over Lockwood and East Helena.

Over the course of both games, 11 different players found the back of the net. Almost every goal was assisted as well. On Friday Whitefish defeated Lockwood 10-0 and Saturday the Bulldogs traveled to Helena and defeated East Helena 11-0.

Whitefish head coach John Lacey was overall happy with the boys’ effort and the adjustments the players made while adapting to new positions on the field. A lot of younger players are stepping into more significant positions and many freshmen and sophomores had some playing time.

“We scored a lot of goals, saw some potential from some of the new players, some of the freshmen, so I feel really good about where they’re going to go. We’ll just keep trying to ready them for that next one,” Lacey said. “We’re going into this thing together — all of us are going to depend on young guys, old guys, experienced guys we have to do this together. So that will continue to be a goal.”

Against Lockwood, Bulldog junior Ryder Elliot scored a hat trick in the first half of the game. Preston McPherson and Kyle Jonson added two goals each while Elijah Adams-Griffin, Griffin Gunlikson and Sam Dow each scored as well.

In the East Helena game, Elliot opened the scoring again in the 5th minute. Throughout the game, Jackson Dorvall added two goals as did McPherson. Logan Bingham, Collin Lyman, Kane Nissen, Chris Noone and Adams-Griffin all scored one each.

“We looked like us… we want to play good soccer and we want to score goals — we accomplished both,” Lacey said.

While the shots on goal were generally aplenty throughout both games, in Whitefish’s senior goalkeeper Ethan Schott recorded two clean sheets. Lacey was glad to see him confident in his first two games as starting keeper.

“He didn’t get tested too much… but it’s good to see Ethan Schott step in with authority and take on that very important role of goalkeeper,” Lacey expressed. “He certainly showed and acted like he’s ready for that next stage.”

Whitefish is now preparing for two games this week, one of them being the Bulldogs’ semifinal opponent from last season — Livingston. This team gave Whitefish a run and held a lead for most of the game in one of their regular season games last year.

“They’re going to be hungry… they gave us as strong of a run as anybody that we’ve had in this stretch. I’m looking forward to a good match,” Lacey said.

Whitefish will host both matches this week at Smith Fields. On Friday the Bulldogs play Livingston (Park) starting at 3 p.m. and Saturday they face Lone Peak at noon.

East Helena 0 0 – 0

Whitefish 5 6 – 11

WF – Ryder Elliott 5:00

WF – Jackson Dorvall 19:00

WF – Logan Bingham (Elijah Adams- Griffin) 28:00

WF – Preston McPherson (Bingham) 30:00

WF – Adams-Griffin (McPherson) 32:00

WF – Collin Lyman 48:00

WF – Kane Nissen (Ben Dow) 55:00

WF – Chris Noone 58:00

WF – McPherson (Charlie Hyatt) 69:00

WF – Dorvall 73:00

Shots – WF 24, EH 0; Corner kicks – WF 6, EH 0; Fouls WF 5, EH 3; Saves WF 0 (Ethan Schott), EH 14.

Friday

Lockwood 0 0 — 0

Whitefish 8 2 — 10

WF — Ryder Elliott (Collin Lyman) 9:00

WF — Elijah Adams-Griffin (Charlie Hyatt) 12:00

WF — Elliott (Lyman) 18:00

WF — Elliott 23:00

WF — Preston McPherson (Kyle Jonson) 27:00

WF — Jonson (PK) 38:00

WF — Griffin Gunlikson 39:00

WF — Sam Dow 40:00

WF — Jonson 55:00

WF — McPherson 57:00

Shots — Lockwood 1, WF 20; Corner kicks — Lockwood 1, WF 10; Fouls — Lockwood 2, WF 9; Saves — Lockwood 10 (Austin Therriault), WF 1 (Ethan Schott); Cards — WF 1.