Girls soccer gets two big wins on the road

Columbia Falls Wildcat girls soccer got two significant victories this past weekend by defeating the Livingston Rangers 1-0 and the Billings Central Rams 3-1 on the road.  

“The biggest thing about this weekend was that we had a chance to play against two of the top teams in the state prior to getting into conference play.  The girls really went into both games with the intention of getting good results and we got them,” said head coach Thomas Clark on the weekend wins.

Noeley Fisher, assisted by Riley Byrd, would be the sole scorer in the matchup against the Rangers on Friday afternoon.  She would find the back of the net at the 29-minute mark. 

Goalkeeper Medora Dahlstrom made six saves for the Cats.  Columbia Falls had only four fouls, while Livingston had 10.

The Cats faced off against the Rams Saturday. The game would be a close contest until the 37th minute, when Onnikka Lawrence scored a solo goal, giving the Cats a 1-0 lead heading into the half.

In the second half, the Cats found their rhythm in the final minutes of the game.  June Johnston and Byrd formed a formidable duo, with Byrd assisting Johnston twice. This resulted in the Cats scoring at the 72nd and 76th minute marks.  Central also managed to score when Emerson Dull, with assistance from Maisey Biehl, scored for the Rams.

Columbia Falls outshot Central 19-10. 

 “We knew that both Billings and Park present a lot of offensive threats, and we asked some of our younger defensive players to really step up. Dahlstrom played great in both games in the goal.  Our whole back line was strong defensively only conceding one goal on the weekend, and I thought Fisher proved herself as a wingback doing a lot of defensive work and scoring the game winning goal against Park,” said Thomas.

As for players and the team as a whole, “We have a lot of players that have been in big moments, and they play that well.  Our senior class has played in two state championships, and the experience of the group absolutely helps us find ways to win games.  The sky is the limit with this group!” added Thomas.

Tuesday they faced Browning after presstime.  Thursday, they’ll face off against the always tough Bigfork. The game begins at 5 p.m. at home.

“This week is the beginning of conference play, the games that impact our playoff standing.  We spent these first two weeks really finding out who we are as a team.  Now, as we move forward, we will be honing in on the details that ultimately make the difference between wins and losses as the stakes get higher,” Thomas said.