COLUMBIA FALLS — It was a jam-packed Saturday in the Flathead Valley, where three of the four Class A state semifinal soccer matches were played.
WATCH THE HIGHLIGHTS:
Whitefish boys 4, Stevensville 0
The action did not come until late in the first half when Rowan Perkins knocked in a free kick from long distance that found the back of the net to give Whitefish the early lead.
That would set the tone for the second half as the Bulldogs scored three more goals in the match from three different players: Graysen Rembaugh, Henry Barbieri and Trey Larkin, who catapulted the team to a 4-0 victory.
Whitefish advanced to the championship game, where they will face Polson on the road.
Columbia Falls girls 4, Lone Peak 1
Columbia Falls' girls got it going late in the first half when senior forward Bella Mann was on the attack and forced the ball off one of her defenders to create an own-goal and the Wildkats jumped out to the early lead.
Lone Peak had fight, however, tying the match on a deep goal from Harper Morris that bounced just out of the reach of Columbia Falls keeper Elaina Dorr.
But Mann, Columbia Falls’ captain, made sure to put the Bighorns away with two second-half goals that were also complemented with another one from teammate Taylor Rodgers, which set the Wildkats up for a 4-1 victory.
Columbia Falls will host Bigfork next week in the Class A girls championship.
Polson boys 1, Columbia Falls 1 (Polson wins 6-5 on PKs)
It was a defensive battle between the Polson and Columbia Falls boys, with all of the offense coming in the first half.
It was Polson who struck first with a goal from Donovan Beeks, assisted by Cruz Lies off a corner kick.
That lead did not last long as later in the half Jack Harris put a shot just over the reach of Polson goalkeeper Maddox Bird.
Neither team could score through the entire second half orin extra time, but Bird made multiple game-saving stops for Polson to force the match into a penalty-kickround.
During the shootout on Polson’s second attempt, Columbia Falls’ goalkeeper Brady Heitz made a diving save to put the pressure on the Pirates.
But Polson did not miss another PK after that and Bird made a save on the Wildcats’ fifth attempt to force the sudden-death shootout.
Then, after Ruger Ellis put his shot in the back of the net, Bird saved the attempted tying goal to advance Polson to the championship with a 6-5 edge in the penalty-kick round. The Pirates will host Whitefish next week in for the Class A title.
