Lady Bulldogs down Bigfork in the rain
Whitefish junior Olivia Genovese celebrates after scoring late in the second half of a game against Bigfork on Thursday. (Whitney England/Whitefish Pilot)
Whitefish's Maeve Ingelfinger sprints after a ball in a game against Bigfork on Thursday. (Whitney England/Whitefish Pilot)
Bulldog Delaney Smith dribbles the ball toward goal in a game against Bigfork on Thursday. (Whitney England/Whitefish Pilot)
On the first official day of fall, the Whitefish girls soccer team edged Bigfork 3-1 in a wet and cold game on Thursday afternoon.
The rain was relentless as the girls battled. Whitefish played neck-and-neck with the Valkyries through the first half with each team getting chances on the goal but not being able to finish them.
In the second half, Whitefish senior Brooke Roberts finally broke through the Bigfork defense as she scored on a beautiful shot assisted by Isabelle Cooke in the 57th minute. Just 10 minutes later the Valkyries responded to tie the game at 1-1.
The game remained tied up until the 76th minute when Bulldog Maeve Ingelfinger scored, assisted by Roberts, the go-ahead goal. Just one minute later, Whitefish leading goal scorer Olivia Genovese hit the back of the net off a ball from Delaney Smith. The goal by Genovese deflated Bigfork’s comeback.
Whitefish carried the momentum through the second half with several quality scoring chances. Whitefish had 33 shots in the game to Bigfork’s 16. Both goalkeepers played outstanding games with Whitefish’s Norah Schmidt making 11 saves and Bigfork making 22 saves.
Whitefish was also called for seven fouls and one yellow card while Bigfork players were shown two yellows and a red card in the intense game.
Whitefish is now 8-0 on the season. Genovese has scored 18 goals this season to be No. 2 on the scoring leaderboard in Class A.
The Bulldogs continue league play this week — first play the Wildkats in Columbia Falls on Thursday at 5 p.m. and then travel to Libby on Saturday. There are two weeks of regular season play remaining before the playoffs begin on Oct. 15.
Whitefish 0 3 - 3
Bigfork 0 1 - 1
WF - Brooke Roberts (Isabelle Cooke) 57:00
BF - 67:00
WF - Maeve Ingelfinger (Roberts) 76:00
WF - Olivia Genovese (Delaney Smith) 77:00
Shots: Whitefish 33, Bigfork 16; Saves: Whitefish 11, Bigfork 22; Corners: Whitefish 7, Bigfork 2; Fouls: Whitefish 7, Bigfork 3; Cards: Whitefish 1 yellow, Bigfork 2 yellows, 1 red.
