WHITEFISH — The Whitefish boys soccer team clinched its third straight Northern A conference title with a 3-0 win over Columbia Falls on a damp Thursday at Smith Fields.

Whitefish co-captain Nathan Boone scored one goal and set up the other two in his return from a dislocated shoulder and the Bulldogs (8-1-2 overall, 5-0-2 Northern A) locked up the No. 1 seed in Northern A with one regular season game remaining. The loss eliminated Columbia Falls (4-6-1, 2-4-1) from postseason contention as it will finish fourth and only the top three teams from Northern A advance to the state tournament.

“It’s a huge honor for us,” Boone said. “This year especially, it’s been a really competitive year. The other teams have really stepped up big. We had to battle to get it, but it’s an honor.”

Boone missed Whitefish’s two previous games, including a tie against Libby where Whitefish lacked a finishing touch in its offensive third.

“He has the will to score goals,” Whitefish midfielder Tommy Murphy said of Boone. “Like in Libby we tied, but that was one of the best games our team had played. The only difference was the scoreline. Nathan’s experienced, he’s clutch, he has this mentality that he doesn’t let anything bother him. That’s what he brings to our team, and of course he’s a captain and a leader.”

Center back Jon Dittman netted Whitefish’s first goal in the eighth minute when he received a corner kick from Boone and blasted a shot past Columbia Falls goalkeeper Mason Gedlaman on his second touch. Murphy made it 2-0 in the 30th minute with a run through the middle of the field that ended with a 20-yard strike. Whitefish nearly scored two more before the end of the half, but Jared Johnson put a shot right at Gedlaman after running down a through ball from Boone and Johnson put another shot just wide of the far post in the 40th minute.

Columbia Falls hit the crossbar twice in the second half and Whitefish goalkeeper Casey Ling was forced to make a diving save on a 20-yard strike by Casey Burghduff, but the Wildcats couldn’t find the back of the net.

A set piece near midfield set up Whitefish’s third goal in the 65th minute. Dittman lobbed a free kick into the 18-yard box, Boone trapped it with his thigh and sent his second touch past Gedlaman.

“I thought for the longest time I was going to have season-ending surgery, but when I got the news I could come back I can’t even describe how stoked I was,” Boone said.

The win gave Whitefish redemption against its North Valley rival as the Wildcats and Bulldogs tied 5-5 in their previous meeting.

“In these rivalry games and given the slick conditions, it was kind of cagey,” Whitefish coach O’Brien Byrd said. “So I’m very happy with the way the guys performed. We got the shutout, got the win. The guys were definitely talking about some redemption from the last time we played them. They definitely didn’t play their game and they wanted to kind of set the record straight, and they did today. It’s good to get these guys tested in these cagey games with the emotion of the rivalry game, because those emotions are going to come in the playoffs.”

Columbia Falls was in position to qualify for the state tournament before losing 1-0 to previously winless Polson on Tuesday. That loss, combined with the loss to Whitefish, allowed Bigfork to secure the No. 3 seed.

“We dropped that game to Polson and we dropped an early one to Bigfork and it killed us,” Columbia Falls coach Peter Browne said. “I thought they played pretty well. Whitefish is a good team. We hit a couple off the woodwork. I think it could’ve easily been 3-2, but we don’t have much left on our team.”

Whitefish wraps up its regular season on Saturday with a home game against Bigfork. Columbia Falls hosts Libby on Tuesday.

Columbia Falls 0 0 — 0

Whitefish 2 1 — 3

W - Jon Dittman (assist Nathan Boone), 8:00

W - Tommy Murphy (Boone), 30:00

W - Boone (Dittman), 65:00

Shots on goal - Columbia Falls 8, Whitefish 22. Saves - Columbia Falls 19 (Mason Gedlaman), Whitefish 8 (Casey Ling). Corner kicks - Columbia Falls 5, Whitefish 11. Fouls - Columbia Falls 10, Whitefish 6. Yellow cards - Columbia Falls 1, Whitefish 1. Red cards - none.

Columbia Falls 2,

Whitefish 1

WHITEFISH — Two-time defending Northern A champion Columbia Falls isn’t ready to give up its title yet.

All Whitefish (9-2 overall, 6-1 Northern A) needed was a tie to clinch its first conference championship since 2010, but Lindsay Strouse sent a shot past Whitefish goalkeeper Piper Greenwood in the 67th minute to lift Columbia Falls (6-2-3, 5-1-1) to a win and put Whitefish’s celebration on hold.

“It feels fantastic,” Strouse said. “Going into the playoffs it was really important that we got this win. It was definitely good to keep the momentum going.”

Strouse ran onto a perfectly weighted through ball from Haley Purdy and buried it for her fifth goal of the season.

“I’ve been working all week on having perfect passes and I saw that one was perfectly angled and everything,” Purdy said. “I knew it was going to go in once it left my foot.”

Purdy and Strouse also combined on Columbia Falls’ first goal as Purdy knocked in a 35-yard lob from Strouse on a set piece.

While the Wildkats didn’t have a huge edge in possession, they did have a far more penetrating attack as Whitefish often got hung up in the midfield where Columbia Falls’ Tavia Bechtel resembled a brick wall.

“She’s always really good at winning balls and turning and distributing the ball to the wings and forwards,” Columbia Falls coach Greg Trenerry said of Bechtel.

“With Whitefish it’s always a really tough match. It’s usually a matter of winning the midfield. Whoever does that is probably going to have the most opportunities.”

That was certainly true on Thursday. Whitefish took a lead in the 15th minute when Haley Nicholson ran onto a loose ball and scored from 15 yards out, but Columbia Falls didn’t take long to turn its slight advantage in the midfield into an equalizer. Two minutes after Nicholson’s goal, Bechtel played a lob over the defense to Purdy but Greenwood made the save. Whitefish wasn’t as fortunate in the 22nd minute when Purdy put away Strouse’s lob to even the score at 1-1.

Purdy had another dangerous chance in the 35th minute when she ran onto a through ball from Strouse, but Greenwood charged and deflected Purdy’s shot to Columbia Falls’ Alexi Corbett. Corbett played the ball back into the 18-yard box but Purdy’s volley went over the crossbar.

Whitefish thought it had taken a lead when Grace Kurtz knocked in Nicholson’s chip to the near post in the 46th minute but Kurtz was flagged offsides and the game remained tied. Strouse netted the game-winner 21 minutes later and Columbia Falls kept Whitefish pinned in its own end much of the 13 remaining minutes.

“It’s really nice to beat this team because they have a really good program,” Purdy said. “We stepped up and played with our hearts. We wanted that game more than they did.”

Whitefish, which beat Columbia Falls 3-2 earlier this season, can clinch the conference title with a win against Bigfork in its regular season finale on Saturday.

“We’re just going to learn from our mistakes and move forward,” Whitefish coach Wendy Farrens said.

Columbia Falls hosts Libby on Tuesday in its regular season finale.

Columbia Falls 1 1 — 2

Whitefish 1 0 — 1

W - Haley Nicholson (unassisted), 15:00

C - Haley Purdy (assist Lindsay Strouse), 22:00

C - Strouse (Purdy), 67:00

Shots - Columbia Falls 16, Whitefish 5. Saves - Columbia Falls 1 (Andrea Getts), Whitefish 8 (Piper Greenwood). Corner kicks - Columbia Falls 5, Whitefish 0. Fouls - Columbia Falls 12, Whitefish 1. Yellow cards - Columbia Falls 1. Red cards - none.