WHITEFISH — It was a packed house at Smith Field on Saturday as the Whitefish Bulldogs were taking on the Columbia Falls Wildcats for the boys State A soccer title. It's the second year in a row the two teams have met at the state championship and this is the fourth year the Whitefish Bulldogs are competing for the title.
Whitefish won the game 3-2 over their rivals.
Darby McCarthy found Gabe Menicke and to get the Bulldogs on the board early. Ethan Austin from the Wildcats will then follow up with a goal, and it is a 1-1 game going into the half.
Coming out of the half, Menicke will pass it to his fellow senior Chase Sabin who is second in leading the state in goals and he will put it in the back of the net. Once again it does not take long for the Wildcats to respond as Finley Sudber find River Wolford who gets it in the top corner of the net, and once again we have a tied game.
Two minutes left Ryder Elliot found Menicke and he put it in the back of the net for the game-winning goal. With one minute left Columbia Falls receives a PK in the box and the Whitefish keeper gets the stop to seal Whitefish's fourth consecutive State A soccer title.
"Just so many fantastic individual efforts today but the team as a whole just everybody stepped up. We talked for three weeks that we knew every one of these playoff games is gonna go 80 minutes, all the way, and today proved it, it was a great day of soccer for the valley and these two teams," Whitefish head coach John Lacey said.
"I can't describe it, it has been the best soccer of my entire life, definitely the best. I mean, I have been playing with all my friends my whole life I never thought it'd be like this. It is just all hitting me at once, I just cant even speak right now," Menicke said.
