Whitefish girls clinch conference title with win at Bigfork

Whitefish was able to will itself past Bigfork 2-1 in Northwestern A girls' soccer action on Thursday, Sept. 28. The win improved the Lady Bulldogs to 8-1 on the year and clinched the Northwest A Conference Championship.

"The team took care of business," Whitefish Head Coach Roland Benedict said. "When we play a team a second time, we want to match or have better results from the first game. While the score was 5-1 last time in Whitefish, if I looked at this game, we played equally as impressive."

Benedict added that Bigfork plays on a football field, which means it is narrower than a standard soccer pitch. With football also being played on the turf, this can cause surface conditions to be less than ideal.

"It makes it hard to play the game we want to play, so we just tried to mitigate what they wanted to do and went from there," Benedict said.

Sadie Olson got the Lady Bulldogs on the board early with a seventh-minute goal on a Charlotte Perkins assist. After halftime, Delaney Smith scored in the 43rd minute from an assist by Olivia Genovese to go up 2-0. Bigfork would score in the second half but couldn't find the equalizer.

"Our players were top-notch in every position," Benedict said. "Everybody stepped up and really performed."

He also highlighted Whitefish goalkeeper Norah Schmidt, who was an all-state goalkeeper last year and made several impressive saves against Bigfork.

"She made saves high school goalkeepers really don't have any business making," Benedict said. "She is able to do brilliant and special things. We'll try and limit those opportunities against her, but she is definitely showing she is one of the best goalkeepers Whitefish has had and perhaps the best goalkeeper in the state."

Whitefish had 14 shots on goal compared to Bigfork's 13.

The Bulldogs will host rival Columbia Falls on Thursday, Oct. 5, for senior night at 5:30 p.m., and then play at Polson on Saturday, Oct. 7 at 2 p.m. Thursday night's game will be Senior Night, and four seniors will be celebrated, which will be a little less stressful thanks to already clinching the conference championship.

"We want to make sure the seniors enjoy the game," Benedict said. "We do tell the players soccer is a performance spot, so go out there and express yourselves and enjoy the moment. Those seniors will be amped up for that last game."

At Bigfork

WHITEFISH 2, BIGFORK 1

Whitefish - 1 - 1 - 2

Bigfork - 0 - 1 - 1

SCORING SUMMARY

W - Sadie Olson (Charlotte Perkins) 7

W - Delaney Smith (Olivia Genovese) 43

B - Bagley

Whitefish Bounces Back Against Libby

Whitefish bounced back from a loss to Hamilton, downing Libby 6-0 on Saturday, Sept. 23, in Northwest A girls soccer action.

"It was a good result coming in after the lost to Hamilton," Whitefish Coach Roland Benedict said. "We had a pretty heavy load, and our players had fatigue."

While workouts were light so as not to overwork the players, Benedict said he aims to have the intensity dialed back in by the time Bigfork and Columbia Falls pop up on the schedule.

Olivia Genovese scored three goals, all in the first half. Genovese got on the board first in the 16th minute on an assist from Delaney Smith, then again in the 33rd minute. Taylor Dorvall Assisted Genovese for her hat trick in the 35th minute.

Smith would get a goal of her own in the 46th minute on an assist by Genovese. Madison Gordon would then score unassisted in the 61st minute, and Smith picked up her second goal in the 67th minute on a pass from Gordon.

"They never really broke our lines, and we as a group defensively were very good," Benedict said. "We have a really good defense and work as a unit; it was good to get out there without any injuries."

Whitefish had 22 shots in the matchup, and Libby was held to just four shots. The Lady Bulldogs also had seven corner kicks.

At Libby

WHITEFISH 6, LIBBY 0

Whitefish - 3 - 3 - 6

Libby - 0 - 0 - 0

SCORING SUMMARY

WF 16th min: Genovese assisted by Smith 16

WF 33rd min: Genovese unassisted 33

WF 35th min: Genovese assisted by Dorvall 35

WF 46th min: Smith assisted by Genovese 46

WF 61st min: Gordon unassisted 61

WF 67th min: Smith assisted by Gordon 67