Two matches in two days. That is what Corvallis had to do to stay playing soccer this fall. Last Thursday, Corvallis was host to Missoula Loyola in a play-in game. After defeating Loyola late Thursday afternoon, the Blue Devils had less than 48 hours to rest, recuperate, and get back out on the pitch.
On a blustery day that had sunshine, rain, and wind, the Corvallis boys took on Park County on Saturday. The Livingston based school didn’t want to have an overnight trip and so left early in the morning and had some bad roads on the way to Corvallis.
Early in the match, Mason Wiggins let loose with a long kick from the left that sailed into the back of the net for Corvallis’ first goal. But they didn’t have the lead for long. Livingston forward, Tristan Stenseth, look a shot and although Corvallis’ keeper Hunter Linnewah his hands on the ball, the ball bounced in to the net to tie the score.
Gavin Hagberg scored another Blue Devil goal in the second half and it looked like the Corvallis boys were about to win. However, a lapse in concentration with the ball close to the Livingston goal, allowed the Rangers to score again and tie up the game.
Luke Sangster, one of the Blue Devil go to players, was yellow carded early in the contest and had to use more caution in his play. (A player, or coach, is ejected if they receive two yellow cards, or one red card.) Because of the
“He did a good job of doing that. He kept Tim Hickey said. “You know he just kept feeding balls and getting them to the right people.”
Hickey went on to say his team was very tired but played with a lot of heart. At the end of regulation play, the game was tied at 2-all. That sent the game into two overtime periods. There are two overtime periods so that each team has a fair chance of scoring. Each period is 10 minutes long.
Hickey said his team just kept digging deeper and played so well in the overtime periods. Neither team scored in the overtime periods. That sent the game into kicks from the mark. Each team selected five players plus their keeper. The keepers alternate at the net, and the players shoot the ball from a distance of about 10 feet with the players alternating also.
“We actually practiced doing this this week, knowing that during the playoffs, there’s a good chance that you will have to do this.”
Hickey said that one of his assistants, Emmett Semple, was on the team when they went back-to-back-to back for the state title. “He really stressed making these shots and said as you make the shot, your keeper stops the shot, the team’s confidence grows.”
Park County went first with Ryan Brown taking the shot and Linnewah from Corvallis guarding the net. Brown shot a little high right up the middle and Linnewah fell on the ball to stop the goal. Then the pressure was on Corvallis’ players to make all five of the shots and on Linnewah to stop all of Livingston’s shots.Sangster went first for Corvallis and nailed the shot. The advantage went to Corvallis. Park County made the rest of their shots for a total of four PKs. Corvallis’ Aiden Gregoire, Ian Wilson, Wiggins, and Chris Gonzalez all made their shots and Corvallis won, 5-4(pk).
Gonzalez was the final player to take a shot. If he made the shot, Corvallis would win. If he missed, there would be another 10 penalty kicks.
“We just practiced and practiced,” he said. He was visibly exhausted as Park often double teamed him during the match. He went on to say, “I just knew it was all on me.”
Corvallis will now take on the powerhouse of the North, Whitefish. Hickey said they (Whitefish) are just like a machine. “But we are definitely underdogs but will take that role and will just go and play our game.”
Corvallis will play at noon in Whitefish at the Smith Fields.
Corvallis boys defeated Loyola in a play-in game on Thursday, 4-1. Chris Gonzales had two early goals for the Blue Devils. Those were both unassisted. Luke Sangster booted in the other two goals, one that rolled right between the keeper’s legs in an off-speed roll.
The Corvallis girls lost to Columbia Falls in the quarterfinals. That game was also in Corvallis. The first half belonged to Corvallis. They controlled the tempo of the game. Corvallis scored at the 22 minute mark when Kailen Herbstritt knocked the ball in from the right side. Columbia Falls had a penalty kick but Corvallis Keeper, Mikayla King reached over the players at the net and grabbed the ball out of the air to save the goal.
The weather didn’t help as the rain made the field slick and hard to gain traction on. Columbia Falls made some adjustments for the second half according to Corvallis coach David Molesh.
“They moved No. 7, Maddie Robison, to the outside and that opened up the upper middle.”
He went on to say that although they had one of their strongest defenders, Sydney Wolsky, worked hard to control Robison, the plan kind of fell apart in the second half. The wind was also a factor and pushed the ball out of play. “It was hard to gauge,” he concluded.
Molesh was very pleased with his team and the season they had. This was their first conference championship since the early 2000’s.
The Stevensville girls replaced Loyola in the play-in game against Hamilton after Loyola’s team was quarantined. Stevi came from behind to defeat the Broncs and advance to the quarterfinals. McKenzie Brownlee of Stevensville had both goals for the Stevensville girls. She hit one on a penalty kick early in the second half. Her second goal came with a little more than five minutes remaining in the game and put Stevensville up, 2-1.
Stevensville then had to take on Billings Central, last year’s state runner up. The game was in Stevensville. Billings Central won, 8-0.
