Wildcats playoff hopes dashed

The Columbia Falls boys soccer team had one last shot at making the Class A playoffs Tuesday, Oct. 15, but they fell way short.

“It was a tremendous disappointment,” coach Peter Browne said. “I feel sorry for the seniors.”

Libby’s Johnny Davidson scored two goals early in the first half on unassisted drives to make it 2-0, and the Wildcats never really recovered from the shock.

Columbia Falls kept the press on and outshot the Loggers 7-4, but once Libby had the lead, they packed the box and cleared the ball well.

If the Cats had won, they would have secured a playoff berth as they would have tied Bigfork for third place in the Northwest conference and held the tiebreaker edge.

But it didn’t happen, and the Cats ended up 2-5-1 in conference play and 4-7-1 overall.

The Cats will lose six seniors next year, including keeper Mason Gedlaman, who kept Columbia Falls in a lot of games over the season. But they’ll return several starters, including Keenan Jessat, Jackson Barta and Quentin Foust, who anchored the offense.

Libby 2 0 - 2

Columbia Falls 0 0 - 0

L - Johnny Davidson (unassisted), 3:00

L - Davidson (unassisted), 14:00

Shots on goal - Libby 4, CFalls 7. Saves - Libby 5 (Jacob Wood), CFalls 4 (Mason Gedlaman). Corner kicks - Libby 1, CFalls 5. Fouls - Libby 8, CFalls 8. Cards - none.