The two Northern A Conference champions — Columbia Falls boys and Whitefish girls — will have home-field advantage for quarterfinal action in the Class A soccer postseason today.

Columbia Falls (10-1-1) entertains Laurel (4-7-1) at Flip Darling Field at 2 p.m.

Whitefish (9-3-0) tangles with Belgrade (7-3-2) at noon at Smith Fields.

This marks the first playoff appearance for Columbia Falls since 2007. The Wildcats last state championship was in 2005, a 2-1 overtime victory over Billings Central. That was also the last time Columbia Falls won a conference title.

Columbia Falls missed out on the postseason last year, falling in a play-in game in Libby.

“After that game, before we got back on the bus, we were already talking about our goal and that was to win state,” Columbia Falls coach O’Brien Byrd said.

“This season, it’s all about the process. We went to work in the offseason, studied the game, spent time in the weight room, went to camps, worked hard over the summer, taking it step by step to get us to where we are now.”

The Wildcats are led by senior forward Logan Stephens, who has scored 17 goals. That’s third best in the state.

Senior forward Jon Sigurdsson is next with 14 goals and eight assists.

Defensively, Columbia Falls has allowed just 15 goals in 12 games, only five in conference play.

All-state senior keeper Brandon Karberg has had a superb season.

“Not a single player has playoff experience,” Byrd said, “so we don’t have that to draw back on. Right now they are firing on all cylinders without playoff experience. We just have to make sure their focus is sharp and that they need to keep their composure when the chips are down.”

Whitefish’s conference title was its first in five years. The Bulldogs have qualified for postseason action every year since.

Whitefish lost in the championship 4-1 to Billings Central in 2013 and by the same score and to the same team in 2010. Whitefish won state in 2006.

Belgrade and Whitefish battled earlier this season on Sept. 2 in Whitefish. The Bulldogs pulled out a 1-0 victory on a goal by Haley Nicholson.

Whitefish outshot Belgrade 10-6 on goal in that one. Kess Nelson had four keeper saves for Whitefish.

“They are a good team, their coach (Ashley Plummer) is awesome, doing a great job,” Whitefish coach Roland Benedict said. “I think their conference (Eastern) is the toughest conference in the state. They have the most competition through all four teams.”

Billings Central is the defending state, defeating Eastern rival Laurel in the title match last year 3-0. Billings Central won six straight state titles from 2008-13.

Benedict said this will be an entertaining match.

“Try and possess the ball, pass out of the back,” he said. “It’s what high level professional teams play. It’s fun to watch. We play better against teams like that.”

He said Belgrade is a little more athletic than Whitefish, a little bigger and faster across the board.

“We play with more guile, harder,” he said.

“We’re more creative as individuals. It’s going to be a battle of wills.”

Nicholson has had another sensational season for the Bulldogs. The senior striker had six goals in the season finale, an 8-0 triumph over Libby, and has scored 27 total for the season. She scored 31 goals her junior season.

For the other four Northern A postseason participants today, it’s road action.

The Whitefish boys and Columbia Falls girls play Billings Central at Wendy’s Field in Billings at noon and 10 a.m. respectively.

Polson’s boys are in Corvallis, 1 p.m., while the Polson girls travel to Hamilton, noon.

The Whitefish boys lost to Billings Central during the regular season, 7-0 in Billings on Sept. 10.

“We were missing a bunch of guys, had played Laurel the night before,” Whitefish coach John Lacey said of the Billings Central match.

“We lost big. Our worst loss of the season.”

Lacy said his team is excited to get another shot at the Rams.

“We’re a very different team than what they faced earlier,” he said. “Our defense has really solidified, our center play has been real strong. Our goal keeper Marty Anderson has had a great season.”

Casey Schneider, a freshman forward, and Xander Burger, a sophomore midfielder/forward, lead the team in goals scored with three each.

Junior midfielder Avery Hirsch has two goals and two assists.

“We’ve been scoring more goals, being aggressive,” Lacey said as the season came to a close.

“We got shutout in the Libby game, that was disappointing, but our attacking mentality has grown.

Columbia Falls girls are led by Hannah Gedlaman, a junior forward, who has scored 15 goals and totaled 11 assists. Hannah Callender, a junior forward, is next with nine. Kaylee Ashe, a sophomore midfielder, has seven goals.

Class A Soccer

Postseason Glance

BOYS

Tuesday

Loser Out

4 p.m. — Loyola Sacred Heart 2, Hamilton (3-7-2) 1

Saturday

Quarterfinals

Noon — Whitefish (4-7-0) vs. Billings Central (10-2-0) at Wendy’s Field

1 p.m. — Polson (6-4-0) at Corvallis (12-0-0)

2 p.m. — Laurel (4-7-1) at Columbia Falls (10-1-1)

2:30 p.m. — Belgrade (10-2-0) at Loyola Sacred Heart/Valley Christian (5-6-1)

GIRLS

Tuesday

Loser Out

4 p.m. — Loyola Sacred Heart 2, at Corvallis (7-5-1) 1

Saturday

Quarterfinals

10 a.m. — Columbia Falls (7-4-1) vs. Billings Central (11-1-0) at Wendy’s Field

Noon — Polson (9-2-1) at Hamilton (10-1-1)

Noon — Belgrade (7-3-2) at Whitefish (9-3-0)

Noon — Laurel (8-2-2) at Loyola/Valley Christian (5-8-0)