by Scott Sacry
There is an abundance of high level soccer being played in the Bitterroot Valley. Five valley teams qualified to play in the Class A State playoffs, which begin on Friday, October 14th. The boys teams from Stevensville and Hamilton made the field of eight, while the girls teams from Hamilton, Corvallis, and Stevensville all made the eight-team playoff field.
Class A soccer has three divisions, the East, the North, and the South. Corvallis, Stevensville, and Hamilton are all in the South Division. Each year eight teams make it to the State playoffs with two divisions getting three teams and one division getting two teams. In the two-team division, the second and third place teams play to earn the division’s #2 seed. The division that gets only two teams rotates every year, and this year the North Division gets two teams in.
The Hamilton girls cruised to a 9-0-1 conference record and are the South’s #1 seed. Hamilton will host the #3 seed in the east, Livingston, on Saturday, October 15th. Hamilton and Stevensville played on Tuesday, October 4th and Hamilton’s 1-0 victory all but clinched their title. Hannah Hughes, one of the state’s top scorers, scored the game’s only goal. On Thursday, October 6th, Hamilton beat Frenchtown 7-0. Hughes had five goals, while Lexi Brenneman and Taylor McCarthy each added a goal.
The Corvallis girls finished with a 7-2-1 conference record and are the South’s #2 seed and will face the North’s #2 seed, which will either be Bigfork or Columbia Falls. Corvallis needed a miraculous comeback to clinch the #2 seed. Down 2-3 with minutes left in their October 6th game versus Loyola, Sydney Wolsky and Addy Williams each scored goals in under a minute to secure a 4-3 victory and the #2 seed. Kiera Davis and Addy Williams had the other goals for Corvallis. Corvallis defeated East Helena 8-0 on Tuesday, October 4th.
The Stevensville girls finished with a 6-2-2 conference record and are the South’s #3 seed and will play Billings Central, the #1 seed from the East, at Billings on Friday, October 14th at 6 p.m. The Lady ‘Jackets lost to Hamilton 0-1 on Tuesday, October 4th, then defeated East Helena 10-0 on Wednesday, October 5th. In that game, Holly St. Germain had three goals, Josie Lewis and Kelsen Zahn each had two, and Victoria Uskoski, Maddie Sacry, and Lily Uskoski each scored a goal.
The Hamilton boys finished with a conference record of 6-1-3 and are the South’s #2 seed and will play the North’s #2 seed, either Whitefish or Polson, on Saturday, October 15th. Hamilton tied with Stevensville 1-1 on Tuesday, October 4th and defeated Frenchtown 5-0 on Thursday, October 6th.
The Stevensville boys finished with a 6-2-2 conference record and are the South’s #3 seed and will play at Livingston, the East’s #1 seed, on Saturday, October 15th. They tied Hamilton 1-1 on Tuesday, October 4th, and defeated East Helena 10-1 on Wednesday, October 5th. In that game, Stevensville’s Cole Olson had five goals, and David Beames, Evan Montague, David Demaske, Silas Seibert, and Dillon Post each had goals.
The State semi-final games will be on Saturday, October 22nd, and the State Championship games will be played on Saturday, October 29th.