Late goals give Cats 5-3 soccer win over Bigfork

By JOE SOVA / Hungry Horse News

Chase Jackson scored a hat trick plus one, leading Columbia Falls to a 5-3 Northern A Conference win over Bigfork on Saturday at "Flip" Darling Memorial Field. It was the first win of the season and came after a 5-1 home-field loss to Whitefish last Thursday.

But it was not until the final minutes that the game was decided. With the score knotted at 3-3, Travis Pete found the net in the 50th minute, assisted by Jackson. With nine minutes to play, Pete returned the favor — assisting on Jackson's fourth goal of the match.

With the win, the Wildcats go to 1-2 in league play and 1-4 overall.

"I think we were really in a must-win situation," Cats coach Peter Browne said. "It was just great to get a win. We have some young kids who are learning. Sometimes that leaves us vulnerable. Hopefully we'll just go game-by-game and get better every week.

Browne singled out Grant Getts, Pete, Jackson and Uriah Keller for their play against Bigfork.

Whitefish was only able to break the Wildcat defense for one goal in the first half, but they came out firing in the second half.

Whitefish junior forward Travis Adams took a beautiful cross from senior forward Felix Hermsdorf in the 17th minute to break the deadlock. The Columbia Falls attackers had to have been smelling blood in the water from the heavily favored Bulldogs, who have swept the series for the last two years.

Whitefish sophomore Mac Adams got things going six minutes into the second half by taking a beautiful assist from senior forward Patrick Jones and putting a move on Wildcat goalkeeper George Kimerly to give Whitefish a 2-0 lead.

It was a back-and-forth struggle for the next 15 minutes, as the Bulldogs kept Columbia Falls backed into their half of the field.

Sophomore Jack Steele struck in the 60th minute off an assist from Hermsdorf, and the rout was on. Hermsdorf beat a pair of Wildcat defenders in the 72nd minute and fed a gift to a streaking Jones, who one-touched the ball to the top left corner of the net.

The Wildcats never gave up, however, and senior midfielder Travis Pete scored a solo goal in the 75th minute to avoid a shutout. Travis Adams added a goal for Whitefish.

"We have a young team," he said. "We hung in there for a while, but our experience caught up to us. We didn't test their goalie, and obviously by our one goal there, he is vulnerable. We have some things to work on."

David Erickson contributed to this article.

Trenerry father-daughter battle ends in draw

By DILLON TABISH

Northwest Montana News Network

The old saying goes "ties are like kissing your sister." But for Bigfork girls' soccer coach Hauna Trenerry, it's more like hugging your father, which is all right in her mind.

Columbia Falls, led by Hauna's father Greg Trenerry, tied Hauna's Valkyries 2-2 at "Flip" Darling Memorial Field in Columbia Falls Saturday.

The two coaches met at center field for the first time as opposing coaches.

"Hi Dad," Hauna said as the pair shook hands, acting the part as rival coaches. But once that was done, they embraced for one last hug before taking opposite ends.

For the next 80 minutes, family matters didn't matter. They both wanted to win.

From the start, Bigfork goalie Becca Denning had her hands full as Columbia Falls sent shots flying. But Bigfork got on the board first when Caitlin Charlebois found the net — just out of goalie Niesha Thompson's reach.

But Bigfork's lead didn't last long. With under 10 minutes to go in the half, Elena Potter cut a sharp pass through Bigfork's defense to McKenzie Kizer, who shot from roughly 15 yards for a nothing-but-net goal. It was 1-1 at halftime.

Both teams pushed down the field and again Denning made another key save with 21 minutes left, lunging in front of a Wildkat shot for the save. Minutes later, Bigfork hit the goal post with a hard shot that deflected right into Bigfork's feet. Quinci Paine kicked the rebound just over the goalie's head for a 2-1 Valkyrie lead.

Kizer kept Columbia Falls' intensity alive. Potter soared a corner kick in front of the Bigfork goalie and the 5-foot-3 Kizer leaped into the air going for the header, which barely missed. The ball dribbled off Bigfork defenders but Kizer pushed her way right back in and sneaked a shot into the net for her second goal, tying the game once again, 2-2. Kizer's goal ended up keeping the Wildkats from falling to 0-5, and Greg credited her with being a team leader.

"They came together as a team today," he said afterwards.

"McKenzie led the way. She's a hard worker out there… She gets asthma so we have to watch her. We were asking around what she ate for breakfast this morning."

So what did Kizer have for breakfast that made the difference?

"Pancakes," she said smiling after the game. "Oh, and homemade raspberry jelly with whipped cream."

CFHS fell to Whitefish 7-1 last Thursday, as the Bulldogs built a 3-0 halftime lead and scored four more goals before the Kats could get on the board. That goal was scored by Melissa Livingston in the final minute of play, assisted by Katie Donner.

Carly Lengstorf and Meagan Powell scored two goals each for Whitefish. Kelsey McCluskey, Becca Strellnauer and Meredith Reed each had a goal.

Thompson had 14 saves in goal for the Kats.

CFHS plays at Libby today (Thursday) and hosts Polson on Saturday.

Joe Sova contributed to this article.