Soccer: C-Falls splits with Livingston Friday

BILLINGS — The Columbia Falls Kats and Cats had a tough time on the pitch Friday, though the Wildkats came out on the plus side of a 1-0 decision with Livingston in Class A girls soccer.

Noeley Fisher’s goal in the 29th minute, off an assist from Riley Byrd, stood up for the girls. 

Livingston’s boys scored a 3-1 victory over the Wildcats. 

Wildkats 1, Rangers 0

Columbia Falls outshot the Rangers 17-6. 

“It’s always hard to travel across the state and play against a tough opponent,” Columbia Falls coach Thomas Clark said. “We’ve been very lucky to be able to play against the other two conference champions from last year this season and it’s been really good to see the girls come away with strong results.” 

Clark noted that keeper Medora Dahlstrom notched her first career shutout and was happy with the contributions of two new starters on the back line, Gwynn Cummings and Ella Robbins. 

“I think we are creating a lot of chances and we need to improve with our conversion rate,” he said. “That’s a pretty great place to be at this point in the season and we will continue to work at that.”  

Columbia Falls    1    0    -    1 

Livingston    0    0    -    0

CF — Noeley Fisher (Riley Byrd), 29:00 

Shots — C-Falls 17, Livingston 6. Keeper saves — C-Falls (Medora Dahlstrom) 6, Livingston (Carlie Bober) 16. Corner kicks — C-Falls 8, Livingston 0. Fouls — Columbia Falls 4, Livingston 10. 

Rangers 3, Wildcats 1 

Livingston’s boys outshot Columbai Falls 14-9 and got two goals in the final eight minutes of regulation to break a 1-1 deadlock. 

The Wildcats trailed 1-0 before Brady Bell scored the equalizer just before intermission, off a helper by Nolan Kavanaugh. 

“Our young team took a tough loss on the road,” coach O’Brien Byrd said. “Hard lessons learned early in the season. We are, however, running out of time and need to learn from these foundational moments so we can build from there. 

“Tomorrow is a new day.” 

Saturday Columbia Falls plays host Billings Central; the girls match is at 1 p.m. and the boys at 3.

Columbia Falls    1    0    -    1 

Livingston    1    2    -    3

L — Calvin Blueher, 17:00 

CF — Brady Bell (Nolan Kavanaugh), 40:00 

L — Carlo Roca, 72:00 

L — Ezra Dick, 74:00 

Shots — C-Falls 9, Livingston 14. Keeper saves — C-Falls (Talon Bates) 11, Livingston (Noah Rudolph) 8. Corner kicks — C-Falls 2, Livingston 2. Fouls — C-Falls 10, Livingston 14. Cards — C-Falls 1 yellow, Livingston 3 yellow.