It was an exhausting week for the Whitefish girls' soccer team, which picked up an important rivalry win but also saw its first setback.

After wins over conference foes Polson and Columbia Falls, Whitefish suffered its first loss of the season, falling to Hamilton 2-1 on the road on Saturday, Sept. 17. The loss dropped Whitefish to 7-1 overall this season.

"It was the fifth game in nine days that we played, and our reserve team had a game that day, so we weren't able to bring up those players," Whitefish Head Coach Roland Benedict said. "One of our players was sick and didn't travel, and one of our midfielders had an ankle injury."

The Lady Bulldogs' goal came from Delaney Smith, while Hamilton's Megan Vasquez and Hannah Hughes were the goal scorers for Hamilton.

"For where we were physically and mentally in sharpness, we played well enough to win the game," Benedict said. "Hamilton was also fresh and rested, and we weren't. There were some errors made in the game, but we also had plenty of chances. We could have easily scored three goals in the first half. It comes down to fatigue, and it's hard to do the little things correctly when you're so exhausted."

Due to the high number of games, Benedict added that the team couldn't get high-impact training sessions in which they could make tweaks and changes to game plans.

"Now we get a whole week to prepare for Libby," Benedict said.

The coach also added that if Whitefish were going to lose a game, dropping one to Hamilton was the one to do it since it doesn't affect the conference standings. It could also be a great motivator and point in the season for the Lady Bulldogs, who are now starting their second playthrough of the Northwest A after starting undefeated.

"It comes down to the opponent and what they want to do the second time around," Benedict said. "But we don't change what we do. We come right at you, dictate the game, and put the best performance we can out there. We just have to be prepared for the challenges these teams will present."

Whitefish Scores Quickly Against Polson

In a busy week of soccer, Whitefish picked up a key Northwestern A victory, downing Polson 5-1 on Thursday, September 14. The Lady Bulldogs outshot Polson 23-9 in the victory.

Delaney Smith scored on an Isabelle Cooke assist in the second minute for Whitefish's first goal, and the Lady Bulldogs struck again in the fourth minute as Smith assisted Olivia Genovese.

In the 23rd minute, Isabelle Cooke scored her first goal of the game on an assist from Smith. Brynn Morse finished Whitefish's first half with a score, assisted by Genovese in the 26th minute.

Cooke notched her second goal of the game, assisted by Genovese in the 72nd minute. Polson scored in the 76th minute for its lone goal of the game.

Whitefish had seven corner kick opportunities, while Polson didn't have any. Polson dropped to 3-5 on the season and 1-3 in league play.

Whitefish Downs Columbia Falls

In true rivalry fashion, a tight Northwestern A matchup against Whitefish and Columbia Falls was tied in the second half on Tuesday, September 12. Sadie Olson, however, broke the stalemate, scoring the go-ahead goal for the Lady Bulldogs in the 66th minute in what would be a 4-2 victory.

"Columbia Falls is one of the hardest places to go play," Benedict said. "Their community makes that field one of the best environments, if not the best one in the state. It's very intimate and very hostile - not in a negative way - that puts on the pressure."

Whitefish had jumped out to a 2-0 first-half lead in the first four minutes of the game on goals by Sadie Olson and Delaney Smith, with Olivia Genovese assisting on both goals.

"Going up 2-0 is a really hard scoreline to protect against when a good team is in their home stadium," Benedict said. "We were also in the middle of a very heavy workload in terms of games played. We had a little fatigue, and I think that is what happened going into the second half."

Just before halftime, Columbia Falls' Josie Harris found the net to make it 2-1. In the 59th minute, Mila Johns would tie the matchup up 2-2.

"It's never good when momentum swings their way in that stadium, but I think we did a fantastic job managing emotions," Benedict said. "We have talented and explosive players that got some very top-quality goals. We were able to dig it out and get the win against a really good opponent."

Seven minutes later, however, Olson would score the winning goal on an assist from Smith. Isabelle Cooke added an insurance score a minute later.

Columbia Falls outshot Whitefish 16-12 in the matchup, while Noran Schmidt collected 15 saves as the Lady Bulldogs goalie.

At 4-0 in the Northwest A, Columbia Falls is the closest competitor to the Lady Bulldogs for first place, but Bigfork also tied C-Falls and could contend for that second place spot as well, as the second half of the season kicks into gear.

At Hamilton

HAMILTON 2, WHITEFISH 1

SCORING SUMMARY

WF – Delaney Smith

H – Megan Vasquez (Greta Gantz)

H – Hannah Hughes (Taylor McCarthy)

At Whitefish

WHITEFISH 5, POLSON 1

Polson - 0 - 1 - 1

Whitefish - 4 - 1 - 5

SCORING SUMMARY

WF — Delaney Smith (Isabelle Cooke) 2:00

WF — Olivia Genovese (Smith) 4:00

WF — Cooke (Smith) 23:00

WF — Brynn Morse (Genovese) 26:00

WF — Cooke (Genovese) 72:00

P — Davis 76:00

GAME STATS

Shots — Polson 9, WF 23. Goalie saves — Polson 18, WF 6. Corner kicks — Polson 0, WF 7.

At Columbia Falls

WHITEFISH 4, COLUMBIA FALLS 2

Whitefish - 2 - 2 - 4

Columbia Falls - 1 - 1 - 2

SCORING SUMMARY

WF — Sadie Olson (Olivia Genovese) 3:00

WF — Delaney Smith (Genovese) 4:00

CF — Josie Harris (Hope McAtee) 37:00

CF — Mila Johns 59:00

WF — Olson (Smith) 66:00

WF — Isabelle Cooke 67:00

GAME STATS

Shots — WF 12, CF 16. Goalie saves — WF 15 (Norah Schmidt), CF 14 (Erica Burguiere). Corner kicks — WF 2, CF 6. Fouls — WF 9, CF 5. Cards — WF 1.