BILLINGS — The Billings Central soccer teams will host both games of the Class A championships next week thanks to a pair of semifinal home wins Saturday at Amend Park.
Both matches were nail-biters.
The Rams girls got things started in the morning with a 3-2 win over Columbia Falls, while the Central boys followed and made an early second-half goal stand up thanks to a busy day from keeper Logan Hutzenbiler in a 1-0 victory over the Wildcats.
Central’s girls will match up with the Laurel girls next Saturday at Amend Park. Laurel defeated Whitefish 3-0 in the other semifinal Saturday, setting up the seventh Rams-vs.-Locomotives championship showdown in the last 10 seasons.
The boys’ side of the bracket will see a rematch from last year’s state title match. Defending champion Whitefish rallied in the final moments Saturday to defeat Stevensville 4-3 in the other semifinal.
Match times for the championships have yet to be announced.
“It’s exciting,” said Hutzenbiler, a senior whose sister, Lorelai, is the keeper for the Rams’ girls team. “I'm going to have a great time being able to watch my sister play out there next week. And of course, seeing our guys out here again for one last go at it. One more set of 80 minutes for the rest of our lives.”
Central girls 3, Columbia Falls 2
The Rams’ dominating season — they are 12-0-2 after Saturday’s win — has given Central few reasons to show any panic. So, when Columbia Falls’ Onnika Lawrence put the Wildkats up a goal 12 minutes into the match, that was about as good a test as any.
After all, Columbia Falls entered the match with a state-high 80 goals while the Rams had conceded just five all season. Causing Central a little more worry, Lorelai Hutzenbiler had to leave the game 13 minutes later after a collision with a Wildkats player, the second time this season Maisey Biehl has had to come in between the sticks while Hutzenbiler received medical attention.
But Hutzenbiler returned to the match three minutes later with no damage done, and Amaya Lorash scored the first of her two goals (both assisted by Emerson Dull) with about 6½ minutes remainging before halftime to equalize.
Central coach John Krebs said the final 15 minutes of the first half, encompassing the brief keeper swap and the tying goal, was one of the most important stretches for his team.
“I knew that if we didn’t relax and we didn’t calm down and just play our game that it would have gotten bad real fast,” he said. “So, I’m proud of my team for realizing it. A lot of that comes from our three seniors (Ava Yates, Bailee Roesch and Maddie Tracy) and being in this situation before. We have a young team, so the leadership from them on the field was second to none.”
Lorash scored her second goal shortly after the second half started and Dull got a goal for herself for a 3-1 lead with 24 minutes to go.
Dangerous Columbia Falls didn’t go away, though. Tatiana Raymond pulled a goal back just four minutes later, but the Rams held on from there to reach the title match for the 15th time in school history. The Rams have won 10 titles overall.
“It’s such a surreal feeling,” said Tracy, who helped anchor the Rams’ back line. “Some of us haven’t been able to play in a state championship and some of us have. To see all the work throughout the season just come together at the end and getting a chance to play (in the state championship), it’s surreal, really.”
Columbia Falls, the Northern A champion, finished its season 10-3-1.
Laurel girls 3, Whitefish 0
Darby Boehler, Elly Poser and Aubri Roth scored goals to help the Locomotives eliminate the defending state champions and stay unbeaten on the season at 11-0-4. Whitefish ended its season at 9-4-1.
For Laurel, next week will mark its 10th state finals appearance. The Locomotives have won five titles, the last coming in 2021 at the end of a three-year hold on the first-place trophy.
Laurel and Billings Central have split their previous six championship meetings. This season the teams have played to draws of 0-0 and 2-2.
Central boys 1, Columbia Falls 0
When Rams first-year coach Bilechi Sumali switched tactics to play more defensively to protect a one-goal lead, Logan Hutzenbiler knew it was going to be a long 20 minutes or so of absorbing a lot of pressure.
And absorb pressure he and the Rams did. Hutzenbiler made several big saves, and the Rams withstood a seemingly endless amount of set pieces from the Wildcats (12-1-1) to reach the title match for the second season in a row.
“Once you get that one goal, the clock will slow down until the end of the game,” said Hutzenbiler, who acknowledged some tense moments in the latter stages of the second half. “But you know, we did everything to keep 11 guys behind the ball and we pulled out the win. That’s what matters to us.”
Rams senior Russell Johnson scored the game’s lone goal 12 minutes into the second half when Bowman Seitz sent the ball into the front of the net before Johnson was able to poke it in.
The Rams (14-0-0) lost to Whitefish last season in the championship match; they hope to make amends on Saturday.
“Columbia Falls, they were really fun to play against,” Johnson said. “We’re excited for next weekend. I think after last year’s letdown, I’d say we’re all kind of like riled up and we’re ready for Whitefish again.”
Whitefish 4, Stevensville 3
Henry Barbieri and Rowan Perkins scored goals in the game’s final minutes to erase a one-goal deficit and send the Bulldogs into next Saturday’s championship match.
Kyler Johnson’s two goals, which included a first-half penalty kick, gave Whitefish a 2-0 lead early in the second half. Stevensville (12-2-0) responded with a three-goal flurry on a brace by David Beames — his 36th and 37th goals on the season — and another goal by Silas Siebert.
Barbieri drew the Bulldogs even in injury time, and Perkins brought Whitefish in front a couple minutes later from 40 yards out with about just 30 seconds left.
"It is hard to come up with words to describe that finish," Whitefish coach Eric Sawtelle told MTN Sports via text message. "I am so proud of the heart and determination our boys showed today. They simply would not be denied and did not stop until the final whistle."
It’s the second time this season Whitefish has beaten Stevensville by a goal. The Bulldogs also won a 5-4 game earlier in the season.
After a second-place regular-season finish in the Northern A, Whitefish (11-2-1) finds itself in the state championship match for the seventh time in the last eight years. The Bulldogs have won 10 Class A championships.
2024 Class A state soccer playoffs
at home sites
BOYS
Quarterfinals
Saturday, Oct. 19
Game 1: Billings Central 3, Hamilton 1
Game 2: Columbia Falls 3, Polson 0
Game 3: Stevensville 4, Libby 1
Game 4: Whitefish 3, Lone Peak 1
Semifinals
Saturday, Oct. 26
Game 5: Billings Central 1, Columbia Falls 0
Game 6: Whitefish 4, Stevensville 3
Championship
Nov. 2
Game 7: Whitefish at Billings Central, TBA
GIRLS
First round
Tuesday, Oct. 15
Game 1: Laurel 4, Lone Peak 1, OT
Quarterfinals
Saturday, Oct. 19
Game 2: Billings Central 8, Polson 0
Game 3: Columbia Falls 10, Missoula Loyola 0
Game 4: Whitefish 1, Hamilton 0
Game 5: Laurel 3, Bigfork 0
Semifinals
Saturday, Oct. 26
Game 6: Billings Central 3, Columbia Falls 2
Game 7: Laurel 3, Whitefish 0
Championship
Nov. 2
Game 8: Laurel at Billings Central, TBA
