Potthoff, Shaffer kick Whitefish past C-Falls

COLUMBIA FALLS — Olivia Potthoff netted two shots and Abigail Shaffer had the other as Whitefish topped Columbia Falls 3-1 in Northern A girls soccer play on Tuesday.

Potthoff scored at 60 and 75 minutes. Shaffer’s goal at 16 minutes put the Bulldogs on top early.

Josie Windauer scored for Columbia Falls at 62 minutes.

“We started slow and by the time we picked up our urgency, it was already 50 minutes into the game,” Columbia Falls coach O’Brien Byrd said.

“Full credit to Whitefish, they outplayed us today. We will look forward to the return match at their house next time.”

That match will be Sept. 27th.

Whitefish’s next action is Tuesday at home versus Libby. Columbia Falls (3-2 overall, 1-1 league) has a Northern A match on Saturday at Polson.

“We had lots of possession, we created a lot of quality chances,” Whitefish coach Roland Benedict said.

“We had two goals called back because of offsides. Their keeper made some great saves.”

Whitefish (3-3, 2-0) had 16 shots on goal to 15 for Columbia Falls.

“We stuck to our game plan,” Benedict said.

“We played disciplined, possession soccer.”

Whitefish 1 2 — 3

Columbia Falls 0 1 — 1

W — Abigail Shaffer (Saylor Schlauch), 16:00

W — Olivia Potthoff (Anna Akey), 60:00

CF — Josie Windauer, 62:00

W — Potthoff (Anna Cook), 75:00

Shots on goal — Whitefish 16, Columbia Falls 15; Corner kicks — Whitefish 3, Columbia Falls 1; Keeper saves — Whitefish 8 (Sami Galbraith), Columbia Falls 8 (Ave McDonald); Fouls — Whitefish NA; Cards — None.

Flathead 1, Hellgate 1

MISSOULA — Shayenne Thompson’s goal at 34 minutes, with sister Skyleigh Thompson assisting, allowed Flathead to tie the Western AA match with Missoula Hellgate as the teams battled to a tie.

“A close game,” Flathead coach Bledy Doda said.

“We played great soccer, we deserved to win.”

Flathead (1-5-1, 1-3-1) led in shots on goal 12-8 and corner kicks 4-2.

“If we don’t finish, sometimes it’s very difficult to win,” Doda said.

“(We had) a lot of scoring opportunities.”

Flathead entertains Missoula Sentinel at 3:30 p.m. Thursday at Legends Stadium.

Flathead 1 0 — 1

Hellgate 1 0 — 1

H — Gabby Beaton (Georgia Walker-Kelleher), 7:00

F — Shayenn Thompson (Skyleigh Thompson), 34:00

Shots on goal — Flathead 12, Hellgate 8; Corner kicks — Flathead 4, Hellgate 2; Goalie saves — Flathead 7 (Aaris Hill), Hellgate 11 (NA); Fouls — Flathead 6, Hellgate 4; Cards — Flathead, 1 yellow.

Stillwater 2,

Columbia Falls JV 0

Goals by Aleeya Derlatka and Julia Pittaway were enough for Stillwater Christian School to top Columbia Falls JV in a nonconference matchup at Stillwater.

Both goals were in the first half.

“Julia Pittaway, Loren Pittaway and Aleeya Derlatka did a great job controlling the midfield the entire game,” Stillwater coach JR Hemp said.

“Our girls had to step it up against a young, quality squad from Columbia Falls. We again had solid defensive play throughout the match from our back line.”

Stillwater (3-2) hosts Chrysalis at 2 p.m. Saturday.

Columbia Falls JV 0 0 — 0

Stillwater Christian 2 0 — 2

SC —Aleeya Derlatka, 7:00

SC — Julia Pittaway ( Clarissa Erb), 28:00

Shots on goal — Columbia Falls 1, Stillwater 28; Corner kicks — Columbia Falls 0, Stillwater 9; Keeper saves — Columbia Falls 14 (NA), Stillwater 1 (NA); Fouls — NA; Cards — NA.

Boys

Hellgate 5, Flathead 1

MISSOULA — Flathead (4-3, 2-3) scored, and early, but Hellgate accounted for all the goals after that in the Western AA match.

Colter Goss netted a shot just one minute into play with Eric Gardner on the assist for the Braves.

“We got the early one, we battled hard, played with Hellgate for the first 60 minutes,” Flathead coach Zach Brenneman said.

“Then we ran out of gas a little bit the last 20 minutes.”

Hellgate outshot Flathead on goal 8-3. Flathead had a slight edge in corner kicks, 4-3.

Max Warnell had four keeper saves.

“I’m proud of our response from the Helena weekend and how hard they played,” Brenneman said.

Flathead hosts Missoula Sentinel on Thursday at Legends Stadium at 5:30 p.m.

Flathead 1 0 — 1

Missoula Hellgate 2 3 — 5

F — Colter Goss (Eric Gardner), 1:00

MH — 8:00, 37:00, 56:00, 63:00, 74:00 (names of goal scorers, assists not available)

Shots on goal — Flathead 3, Hellgate 8; Corner kicks — Flathead 4, Hellgate 3; Goalie saves —Flathead 4 (Max Warnell), Hellgate 2 (NA); Fouls — Flathead 10, Hellgate 8; Cards — Flathead, 1 yellow, Hellgate, 2 yellow

Whitefish 4,

Columbia Falls 0

COLUMBIA FALLS — Columbia Falls kept Whitefish (6-0, 2-0) off the scoreboard in the first half, but the Bulldogs finally got the offense rolling after that for the Northern A win.

Casey Schneider scored twice for Whitefish. Xander Burger and Sam Menicke had the other goals.

“We set out to make it difficult for them to score on us,” Columbia Falls coach O’Brien Byrd said. “Period!

“We had a gutsy performance keeping them shut out for 50 minutes or so, but then we let them in the game and the rest is history,”

Whitefish had 10 shots on goal to Columbia Falls’ nine.

Whitefish had a 5-1 edge in corner kicks.

“Incredibly proud of my boys,” Byrd said.

“A very gutsy performance where everyone gave 100 percent.”

Columbia Falls (1-4, 1-1) continues with league play on Saturday at Polson while Whitefish is off until Tuesday versus visiting Libby for a league test.

“Second half our guys were a little bit more patient, we got a breakthrough goal from Xander Burger,” Whitefish coach John Lacey said.

“It was a shot inside the box at a bad angle, but pretty much unstopable. A moment of courage for Xander Burger to finally break the game open.”

After that score, “our guys were a little more confident,” Lacey said.

“Columbia Falls fought for all 80 minutes. Story Stemborski played an outstanding game, great leadership in the back.”

Stemborski had 13 saves for Columbia Falls.

Colter Upton had six saves for Whitefish.

Whitefish 0 4 — 4

Columbia Falls 0 0 — 0

W — Xander Burger, 47:00

W — Casey Schneider (Brandon Mendoza), 55:00

W — Sam Menicke (Ian Lacey), 67:00

W — Schneider (William Hyatt), 68:00

Shots on goal — Whitefish 10, Columbia Falls 9; Corner kicks — Whitefish 5, Columbia Falls 1; Keeper saves — Whitefish 6 (Colter Upton), Columbia Falls 13 (Story Stemborski); Fouls — Whitefish 10, Columbia Falls 4; Cards — None.