COLUMBIA FALLS — Whitefish and Columbia Falls met

Thursday for a rivalry soccer game with big implications as both

teams sought to carry away the Northern A title.

In the end, the Bulldogs and Wildkats played to a 2-2

draw, meaning Columbia Falls will win the conference after beating

Whitefish 4-3 earlier in the season.

Wildkats coach Greg Trenerry said his team’s mood was

only somewhat celebratory after the game.

“It’s hard to beat a good team twice,” he said of

second-place Whitefish. “My girls wanted to win. At least they

didn’t lose.

“I thought (Whitefish) started real hard and I

thought we started a little tentative.”

The Bulldogs struck first when Megan Danzcyk scored

after a pass from Natalie Gayner in the 19th minute.

After halftime, Columbia Falls’ McKenzie Kiser

capitalized on an assist from Cortney White in the 52nd minute to

lock the score at 1-1.

“We played our game much better in the second half,”

Trenerry said.

Samantha Dittman put the Bulldogs ahead once more in

the 59th minute with a successful penalty kick.

The lead lasted for 10 minutes until Danielle

Delventhal took a pass from Kiser and booted it into the back of

the net to tie the match at 2-2.

“Both teams played really well and as the stats show

it was really back and forth,” Whitefish coach Wendy Farrens said.

“We were able to finish chances and so were they.”

The Bulldogs (7-3-1, 6-1-1) needed to win by at least

two goals to clinch the Northern A title. Instead, they will now

open the playoffs with a game on the road. Columbia Falls ( 10-1-1,

7-0-1) will host a home playoff game against a yet to be determined

opponent. 

Whitefish 1 1 — 2

Columbia Falls 0 2 — 2

WHITEFISH — Megan Danzcyk (Natalie Gayner), 19:00;

Samantha Dittman (PK), 59:00

COLUMBIA FALLS — McKenzie Kiser (Cortney White),

52:00; Danielle Delventhal (Kiser), 69:00

Shots — Whitefish 5, Columbia Falls 20

Corner kicks — Whitefish 1, Columbia Falls 3

Goalie saves — Whitefish 10 (Piper Greenwood),

Columbia Falls 3 (Kira Kamrud)

Fouls — Whitefish 3, Columbia Falls 8

Cards — none

Flathead 0, Big Sky 0

MISSOULA — Flathead goalkeeper Payton Pietron had

four saves and the Braves played to a scoreless draw with the

Eagles.

“We had some opportunities and we just didn’t finish

well today,” Flathead coach Scott Warnell said.

The Braves had 18 shots on goal while the Eagles made

seven attempts.

Warnell said he was pleased with Pietron’s play.

“Payton again had a great game,” he said. “She made

two really good saves to keep it a 0-0 tie. She fought hard all the

way through the game.”

Flathead defeated Big Sky 2-0 the last time the two

teams met.

The Braves (4-1-4) play at Missoula Sentinel on

Saturday.

Flathead 0 0 — 0

Big Sky 0 0 — 0

Shots — Flathead 18, Big Sky 7

Corner kicks — Flathead 1, Big Sky 3

Goalie saves — Flathead 4 (Payton Pietron), Big Sky 3

(Kylie Rhodes).

Fouls — Flathead 7, Big Sky 9

Cards — Big Sky 1, yellow

Boys

Whitefish 7, Columbia Falls 0

COLUMBIA FALLS — Whitefish coach O’Brien Byrd wasn’t

just happy with his team’s victory in its final game of the

Northern A schedule.

He called it “easily our best game of the

season.”

“Its a great way to end the regular season on a high

note and now we have to get ready for our first playoff game,” he

said.

The Bulldogs finished the regular season schedule in

peak form, holding Columbia Falls to zero shots on goal.

Connor Gray led the Bulldogs with two scores, both in

the second half. Nathan Boone had an assist and a goal. 

Also scoring for Whitefish were Sean Janni, Elior

Rossi and Sam Donaldson.

Byrd also lauded the play of his defense, which is

comprised of goalkeeper Thomas Clark as well as Joseph Perry, Jon

Dittman, Koltin Simmes and Skylar Munzing.

“Those guys are playing very well right now,” he

said. “They’re very focused.”

Top-ranked Whitefish (10-2, 8-0) will now host a home

game against the third seed in Southern A to open the playoffs.

Whitefish 4 3 — 7

Columbia Falls 0 0 — 0

WHITEFISH — own goal, 5:00; Sean Janni (Nathan

Boone), 10:00; Elior Rossi, 33:00; Sam Donaldson (Tommy Murphy),

34:00; Connor Gray (Donaldson), 46:00; Gray (Mark Stormes) 56:00;

Boone (Matty McCrone) 68:00.

Shots on goal — Whitefish 14, Columbia Falls 0

Corner kicks — Whitefish 9, Columbia Falls 0

Goalie saves — Whitefish 0 (Thomas Clark), Columbia

Falls 12 (Anthony Correa)

Fouls — Whitefish 10, Columbia Falls 8

Cards — none

Big Sky 5, Flathead 1

MISSOULA — Nic Frontespezi had two goals and an

assist and Big Sky topped Flathead in a Class AA matchup.

Monte White scored the lone goal for the Braves after

a pass from Scott Wiley in the 65th minute.

Big Sky out-shot Flathead 23-17.

“We were starting to link some passes, we had more

shots on goal and more goal-scoring chances in this game then we’ve

had in the last several,” Flathead coach Chris Putzler said. “I saw

some bright sides in terms of our play.”

Flathead (0-9-0) plays at Sentinel on Saturday.

Flathead 0 1

Big Sky 3 2

Flathead — Monte White (Scott Wiley), 65:00.

BIG SKY — Wilson Smith, 7:00; Nic Frontespezi, 19:00;

Brylan Larson, 25:00; Matt Doran (Frontepezi), 44:00; Frontespezi,

61:00

Shots — Big Sky 23, Flathead 17

Corner kicks — Big Sky 6, Flathead 0

Goalie saves — Big Sky 8 (Nathan Mahler), Flathead 5

(Dino Cantu, Trampas Barton)

Fouls — Bog Sky 7, Flathead 9

Cards — Big Sky, yellow

Polson 8, Bigfork 0

BIGFORK — James Larson had two goals and four

assists, Riley Lemm had four goals and one assist and the Polson

Pirates routed the Bigfork Vikings.

“They came out determined,” Bigfork coach Keith

Koslosky said of Polson.

Koslosky said he was proud of his own team’s effort

despite the lopsided loss.

Bigfork finished the season without a win, but will

likely return 15 of 16 players next season.

“We played our best game of the season in terms of

using the entire field,” Koslosky said. “We created some really

nice opps but were unable to finish.

“I worked with a great group of kids and I hope to

work with them again in the future... I think their best soccer is

ahead of them.”

The Vikings had one senior and three juniors on this

year’s squad.

Polson 5 3 — 8

Bigfork 0 0 — 0

POLSON — James Larson (Riley Lemm), 1:00; Lemm

(Larson), 24:00; Lemm (Larson) 28:00; Lemm, 32:00; Larson

(Peregrine Frissell), 34:00; VJ Araos, 42:00; Lemm (Larson), 48:00;

Nick Howell (Larson), 49:00.  

Shots on goal — Polson 20, Bigfork 15

Corners — Polson 2, Bigfork 3

Goalie saves — Polson 3 (Peregrine Frissell), Bigfork

3 (Dillon Hilling)

Fouls — Polson 14, Bigfork 3

Cards — Polson, 1 yellow