by Scott Sacry
The term “heartbreaking” is an overused hyperbole in sports. But in the case of the Stevensville/Whitefish State Soccer Class A semifinal game on October 26 in Stevensville, it’s apt to say that it was a heartbreaking loss for Stevensville, as the ‘Jackets fell 3-4 to the defending state champion Bulldogs in the final seconds of the game.
Stevensville struck first with a goal from Silas Seibert (assisted from Anton Ptok) early in the first half. Whitefish responded with a made penalty kick in the 30th minute to tie the score 1-1 going into halftime.
Whitefish opened the scoring in the second half with a goal in the 59th minute to take a 2-1 lead. Stevensville responded minutes later as Montana’s all-time leading single season scoring record holder David Beames scored his 36th and 37th goals on the season in the span of three minutes to give the Yellowjackets a 3-2 lead.
Then with 4 minutes left in the game, Whitefish scored the equalizer to make the score 3-3. Minutes later, in stoppage time, Whitefish scored the go-ahead goal to vault them to the State Championship game and dash the ‘Jackets championship hopes.
This ended a stellar season for the Stevensville boys, who won a conference championship, had a 12-2 record and made the state semifinals as one of the state’s top teams.