State Soccer Roundup: Local Schools Advance
Glacier, Whitefish and Columbia Falls all move on to semifinals
By Micah Drew
Glacier’s Diego Mendoza scored a goal off an overtime corner kick to nudge the Wolfpack over Billings West 3-2 in the quarterfinal playoff match on Oct. 17.
Braden Nitschelm scored twice for the Wolfpack, putting them up by two goals before West forced overtime with back-to-back goals after the 77th minute.
Glacier (11-3-2) faces undefeated Hellgate (15-0-1) in the semifinals on Oct. 20.
On the girls side, Glacier’s Reese Leichtfuss, Raegan Brisendine and Mickaela Santa each scored in a 3-0 shutout of Billings Skyview on Oct. 17 to advance to the semifinal round of the state tournament. The Wolfpack’s (12-4-0) semifinal match is against Bozeman (11-2-3) on Oct. 20.
Finley Sunberg’s goal off an assist from Jason Albin in the final four minutes gave Columbia Falls (10-1-1) a 2-1 win over Frenchtown (9-4-0) in the Class A quarterfinals over the weekend. The Wildcats will face Billings Central (6-1-2) in next week’s semifinals.
Whitefish (11-0-1) officially began its hunt for a third straight state title last week with a commanding 3-0 shutout of Lone Peak (2-4-2). Collin Lyman, Marvin Kimera and Brandon Mendoza scored for the Bulldogs, and Whitefish out-shot Lone Peak 21-0. The next round will pit Whitefish against Corvallis (9-3-2), which squeaked through the semis with a shootout win over Livingston.
In the girls tournament, Whitefish and Columbia falls all advanced through the first round of the tournament, while Bigfork (4-6-1) lost 4-0 to defending champion Laurel.
Columbia Falls (10-2) will meet Laurel (8-0-1) in the semifinals on Saturday. Kate Hatfield, Cheyanne Johnston-Henz and Hope McAtee all scored for the Wildkats as they downed Corvallis (7-3-3) 3-1.
Whitefish (10-0-1) romped Livingston (3-4-0) 5-1 and Emma Barron pulled off a hat trick. The Bulldogs will face off against Billings Central (7-1-1) on Saturday.
For more results visit flatheadbeacon.com/section/sports.