By BRANDON HANSEN

Hungry Horse News

Columbia Falls’ season ended on Saturday, Oct. 26, as Billings Central used a 54th minute goal to defeat the Wildcats 1-0 in the State A Semifinals.

“It was honestly my favorite season as a coach, not just because of the success but for so many reasons,” Columbia Falls head soccer coach O’Brien Byrd said. “This is the most intelligent team I have ever coached. At halftime for games, I’d let them do the halftime talking before I talked, and there wasn’t a single thing they were off-point or incorrect about. I’m going to miss that. It’s such a tight-knit group, not just brothers but leaders. There were four captains, but there could have been ten with this team.”

The semifinal matchup was a battle of the unbeatens as the 12-0-1 Wildcats took on the 14-0 Rams. Columbia Falls pushed the initiative with 12 shots on goal but simply couldn’t get a ball to go in.

“My heart breaks for them because they gave everything and dominated every step,” Byrd said. “It was that kind of story, and kind of like in life, you can do all the right things and still not get the result you deserve. It’s hard for the human being, but it’s life without a double. We could do anything but put the ball in the net unless we put it in a cannon and shot it three feet in front of the goal.”

Byrd, obviously a big fan of soccer leading the No. 1-ranked team in the state, said that this type of game is the only thing he doesn’t like about the spot.

“In basketball, you can get many, many chances to score, and you’re going to score,” Byrd said. “In soccer, you have ten shots, and if you miss those ten, that’s it. They did a good job bunkering in. We threw everything at them, the whole kitchen sink and it felt like they parked a bus in the front of the goal.”

In the 54th minute, Billings Central’s Bowman Seitz kicked a ball that deflected off a Columbia Falls player who made a great play on the ball to deflect it. In some wild stretch of luck for the Rams, it was able to make it over Columbia Falls goalkeeper Rafe Rusche - who had 11 saves on the day - for the score.

“It was a tough pill to swallow because for us, we had zero luck on the day, but they had the one piece of luck,” Byrd said. “We went out there and played amazing. I feel bad for them, but I am proud of them. They had an epic season and were at an epic level for a team in Montana.”

Columbia Falls topped Billings Central in corner kicks - 5 to 1, but the Rams got the result from that loan goal.

“The result matters, and they got the result,” Byrd said. “Both coaches and referee talked about before the game that on paper this was the state championship game on paper. You had two undefeated teams and we had beat Whitefish on the other side of the bracket, and Whitefish beat Stevensville. But that’s on paper.”

Byrd praised the nine seniors on the team, who sent him texts after the game and road trip back about how they’d never forget this season and how they were going to miss it.

“They are exceptional young men who created one heck of a memory. They had an incredible year,” Byrd said.

Columbia Falls scored the most goals out of any team in the state of Montana this year. It had the No. 1 ranking and was undefeated until last Saturday.

“It’s a hard week, but at the same time, I’m still incredibly proud of these boys,” Byrd said. “They can carry themselves with pride because they did everything right, they had the right attitude and were extremely coachable. There is nothing to regret about that.”