Girls will face Billings Central in first round of playoffs
Hungry Horse News | UPDATED 2 months, 2 weeks AGO
Riley Byrd shoots on the Whitefish goal during the 1-1 tie against the Bulldogs. Seth Anderson Photo.
The Columbia Falls girls soccer team ended its regular season play last week undefeated, as they tied Whitefish on the road Oct. 7, 1-1.
Riley Byrd knocked in a goal at the 74 minute mark to tie the game against the rival Bulldogs, but neither team could score in the final minutes of regulation.
Both teams generated plenty of offense with Whitefish outshooting Columbia Falls 11-9 on goal. Goalkeepers were key for both sides — senior Jackie Solem made nine saves for the Bulldogs, while Elaina Dorr tallied 11.
There is no overtime in regular season soccer games, just the post season.
The Wildcats finish the season at 10-0-2 and take the North Conference crown for the second year in a row. This is the first undefeated regular season in years.
Coach Thomas Clark was proud of his squad, who amassed 70 goals this season, while only giving up three, a rather remarkable statistic.
Now the real work begins as the Cats host Billings Central in the first round of the playoffs.
The Cats have the rather lovely problem of having multiple girls who can score at will.
Bella Mann leads all scorers with 13 goals on the season, Onnikka Lawrence has 11, Riley Byrd 10 and Taylor Rodgers has 10 goals and 16 assists to lead the squad in total points.
“This year we have contributions from everyone,” Clark noted.
On any given day it’s a different player stepping up to secure a win.
The one thing they’ll work on this week in practice is creating scoring chances and finishing, Clark said.
Like the boys, the girls have home field advantage throughout the playoffs by virtue of winning the conference.
They face the Rams Saturday at home at 11 a.m. The teams have gone at it multiple times in the playoffs over the years and it should be a great game.