The playoff season has arrived in soccer and there will be two first-round games here in the Bitterroot. The Hamilton girls’ soccer team will host Belgrade at 2:30 pm on Saturday, October 17; and the Corvallis boys’, the defending state champions, will take on Livingston in Corvallis. That game is at 11am on Saturday.
Corvallis goes into the playoffs as the No. 1 team from the South. They have a record of 11-1 overall and 8-0 in conference play. Four of the top five scorers in the state are from Corvallis. Cayden Ayers leads the state in goals with 24 scored this season. He has 11 assists. Emmett Semple is second in the state with 17 goals. Juan Pablo Juarez is in fourth place with 11 goals this season and Rutgar Klein is in fifth place with eight goals scored. Livingston is the No. 3 team from the east and has a record of 5-4.
Stevensville will play Belgrade in Belgrade. The Yellowjackets are the No. 3 team from the South and have a record of 4-5. (Stevensville didn’t play two games because of the smoke from the forest fires.) Belgrade is the No. 1 team from the East with a record of 10-1. That game will be at 11am.
The Hamilton girls have a record of 11-1 and are the No. 1 seed from the South. They are led by senior Kendal Gordon who has scored 20 goals this season. She is currently ranked fourth in the state. Elise Striebel and Reilly Rostad are also scoring contributors and have combined for 18 more goals. Hamilton will play Belgrade, the No. 3 seed from the East. They have a 5-6 record.
The Corvallis girls will play the defending state champions, Billings Central, at 11am on Saturday in Billings. Corvallis relies upon Corinne Sanderson and Hailey Mason and their ability to find the goal. Corvallis has a record of 4-7 while Billings Central has a record of 11-1.
The Corvallis boys finished their perfect conference season with a 5-1 win over Loyola. Semple and Ayers teamed up for the first two goals, at six and eight minutes. One minute later, Juarez scored off an Ayers assist. Three minutes after that, it was Semple and Juarez who teamed up for the point. Loyola put in their only goal at 14 minutes into the contest. Ayers scored the final Blue Devil goal off a Klein assist. Then the Blue Devils worked on their defense and didn’t allow another goal in the match. In fact, they only allowed three shots on goal by Loyola. The Blue Devils took 20 shots. Justin Catanach had two saves for Corvallis.
Stevensville and Hamilton battled to a 1-1 tie but it was enough to secure third place for the Stevensville boys and a chance in post-season play.
The Hamilton girls defeated Frenchtown, 2-1. Baylie Duce scored at 52 minutes to put the Broncs on the scoreboard. Gordon had the assist. Hamilton broke the tie at 74 minutes when Gordon took a Rostad pass into the net for the goal and the win. Hamilton took 12 shots on goal while Frenchtown took 5. Larami Schara had four saves.
Corvallis secured their playoff berth with a 4-4 tie with Loyola. Loyola scored goals at seven, nine and 15 minutes and had a substantial lead. However, at the 20-minute mark, Mason scored. Two minutes later, Baylie Wright scored. Loyola scored again at 27 minutes. Sanderson found her range in the second half. She scored at 43 minutes and 56 minutes to give them the tie. Corvallis took 17 shots on goal while Loyola had 19 shots. Kira Doyle had seven saves.