It’s a northwest Montana party in the Class A soccer state championship matches Saturday as Columbia Falls hosts Bigfork in the girls title match while Polson welcomes Whitefish in the boys championship.

The Wildkats ran away from Lone Peak with three second half goals to win 4-1. 

Bigfork used an early goal from Paeten Gunlock to down Livingston 1-0 and reach their first state championship match. 

In two prior matches this season, Columbia Falls defeated the Valkyries 1-0 at home before the teams drew 1-1 in Bigfork. 

“You are watching film and relying on your previous experience, but know that a team can make some changes,” Wildkats coach Thomas Clark said of playing Bigfork for a third time. 

Valkyries coach Park Schara noted four Wildkats players that Bigfork needs to be prepared for. 

“When we talk about Columbia Falls, we talk about Alexa Friske, she’s just a solid defender and she’s always performed well against us,” Schara said. “We talk about Ryley Bird and Evie Dorr. They’re young and they’ve got incredible futures in front of them.  

“And of course we talk about Taylor Rodgers. She’s a great winger and just dominant. She can run for days.” 

In all, Columbia Falls has four players with 10 goals or more this season. Onnikka Lawrence led the team with 13 goals, Bella Mann added 11 and Rodgers and Byrd had 10 each. 

Gunlock leads the scoring for Bigfork with 14 goals this season, the senior also added nine assists. Brynn Bagley also added 10 goals. 

“Gunlock is a physical player, she is always a lot to handle,” Clark said, adding that Ione Plummer is another Bigfork star to contain. “(Plummer) is another one of those kids that is going to leave it all on the field” 

Clark encourages fans to get to Flip Darling Memorial Field early with game time set at 5 p.m. 

In the boys championship match, Whitefish travels down to the south side of Flathead Lake to battle Polson. 

The Bulldogs defeated Stevensville 4-0 to earn their spot in the championship, while Polson took down Columbia Falls in a shootout just down the road. 

“We recovered for a day or two, after a physical battle with Columbia Falls,” Pirates coach Josie Lies said. “The boys have been dialed in this week, we are gearing up for another physical match against Whitefish”  

The Pirates look for their first championship in their fourth appearance in the state title match. All three losses came to the Bulldogs; a 3-1 result in 2002 and 2011, and a 6-2 final in 2018. 

Whitefish is in their 16th appearance in the state championship match, with the Bulldogs winning 10 titles, including five in the past eight seasons. Whitefish lost to Billings Central in last season’s championship game. 

“It helps us a lot,” Whitefish coach Eric Sawtelle said of last year's state final run. “We have worked really hard all year to get here, our experience last year fueled our fire, our boys are well prepared.”

Kyler Jonson and Jack Oehlerich power the Bulldog offense. Jonson leads the team with 21 goals and Oehlerich follows close behind with 19. Only Javier Mira from Lockwood has more. 

“We have a quick back four and a strong midfield that moves the ball real well,” Lies said. “We hope to contain them in the midfield.”  

Polson’s leading scorer is Jackson Bontadelli with 11 goals, Roman Sawyer added 10. 

“They put a lot of energy into their squad,” Sawtelle said. “They have a lot of speed up front that can hurt us, we need to win the midfield battle.”

The match is set to begin at 4 p.m. at Polson High School.