Vikings fall at home to defending state champs, on the road at Whitefish

Vikings soccer opened conference play with a tough matchup against defending state champion Columbia Falls last week before taking on the Bulldogs in Whitefish Saturday.

Keeper Lance Peterson had 13 saves for the Vikings against Columbia Falls Tuesday, but it was not enough at the Wildcats found the goal six times to earn a 6-0 win at Carlyle Johnson Field in Bigfork.

Bigfork managed just three shots in the contest as the Vikings elected to employ a defensive low block formation for the entire match.

Bigfork fell behind 3-0 before the half in Whitefish Saturday and could not recover as they fell to the Bulldogs 4-0 in a testy match that saw the teams combine for 25 fouls and four yellow cards.

Peterson saved 13 of the 17 shots he saw from the Bulldogs while the Vikings’ strikers connected on none of their three shots in the match.

The Vikings were at Polson after press time this week but will be at home Saturday as they face Libby at 2 p.m.