by Scott Sacry
The Stevensville boys defeated Libby 4-1 at the Stevensville Soccer Complex in the opening round of the Class A State soccer tournament on Saturday, October 19. Stevensville is the South’s #1 seed while Libby was the North’s #3 seed.
The ‘Jackets led 2-1 at halftime, thanks to goals from Evan Montague and Anton Ptok. Then in the second half, Stevensville increased their lead to 4-1 with another goal from Ptok and a goal from Mario Garcia. Stevensville was in command of the game throughout, holding possession and controlling the pace of the game.
With the win, Stevensville advances to the state semifinal, where they will host Whitefish, the defending State Champion and the North’s #2 seed, this Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Stevensville Soccer Complex.
The Stevensville and Whitefish game will be a rematch of a game played on September 3 in Whitefish. Whitefish won 5-4 in a close and physical game.
The Stevensville boys have been through a lot since then.
The day after the Whitefish game, on Sept. 4, longtime Stevensville head coach Ralph Serrette passed away, leaving an emotional void for the players and the Stevensville soccer community. Assistant coach CJ Clark has filled in admirably as the new head coach, and the boys have since gone 10-0 in an emotional rollercoaster of a season.
In a way, the semifinal game against Whitefish will represent a closing of a circle, and, win or lose, the Stevensville boys can hold their heads high as they have made their community and themselves proud.
The late Serrette lived and breathed Stevensville soccer. This year’s team gets to honor Serrette’s legacy by hosting a State Semifinal game at the Stevensville Soccer Complex where Serrette spent so much of his time and energy maintaining the fields and nurturing Stevensville soccer for 35 years.
The Hamilton girls lost 0-1 in a heartbreaker to Whitefish on Saturday, Oct. 19 in Hamilton in the opening round of the Class A State soccer tournament. Hamilton was the South’s #1 seed, while Whitefish was the North’s #3 seed.
The game was evenly matched throughout with both teams having scoring chances. But to win soccer games you have to score goals. One team can play better, have more possessions and have better chances, but all it takes is one goal.
This was the case in this game as Hamilton fouled Whitefish in the box with under 10 minutes to play, giving Whitefish a penalty kick, which they made and took a 1-0 lead. Hamilton frantically tried to get an equalizer, but fell short, and lost 0-1. This ended another great season for the Hamilton girls, who ended 9-4-1 and were the South Conference champions.
The Hamilton boys, the South’s #2 seed, made the nearly 400-mile trek east to Amend Park in Billings on Saturday, Oct. 19 to take on the East’s #1 seed, Billings Central.
Hamilton was down 0-2 in the second half, when, in the 60th minute, Hamilton’s Dane Hayward scored on a free kick to make it a one goal game. As the game wore down, Hamilton had their chances to tie the game. With the score still 1-2, Hamilton took a free kick just outside the box with 5 minutes left in the game, but the shot sailed high. Central added a third goal in stoppage time for the 3-1 victory.