Libby soccer girls blank pair of opponents

The Western News

A quick glance at Libby’s soccer box scores on Friday and Saturday leads to one simple conclusion – the Lady Loggers dominated.

In victories of 4-0 over Columbia Falls and 6-0 over Stevensville, Libby outshot the opposition by a combined 65-7.

“The girls are really passing the ball well and looking good out there,” Warner said. “We’re keeping the ball up on the opponents’ side of the field. We’re just getting off a lot of shots.”

The Loggers posted their win on the road over Columbia Falls with two goals in each half. Brittany Martin got Libby on the board in the 25th minute on a feed from Jamie Gilden. Anna Valentine – who leads the team in goals – scored seven minutes later on another Gilden set-up.

In the second half, Martin and Valentine both found the net again. And Gilden had an assist on the final goal to finish with three for the game.

The Lady Loggers found their zone right away in the rout over Stevensville. Valentine scored in the third minute and Rachael Sweedman added an unassisted goal in the eighth to give Libby the quick advantage. Sweedman assisted on the first goal.

Gilden put LHS up 3-0 with an assist to Martin in the 14th minute. Valentine followed seven minutes later with her second goal of the game, this one on a feed from Jessica Shaw. And just before the break, Ashley Shaw scored unassisted for the 5-0 lead.

Jessica Shaw added an unassisted goal in the second half to account for the final margin.

Stevensville had just one shot on goal the entire contest.

Christina Shilling played in net both games but with a strong defense in front of her, saw very few chances to make saves. She had nine saves in the Columbia Falls game and none against Stevensville.

Libby (2-0, 4-1) was scheduled to play at Troy on Tuesday against Bonners Ferry in a game played after presstime.

LHS soccer boys now 4-1 on season

The Libby High School boys soccer team continued its positive early-season run on Friday and Saturday with victories over Columbia Falls and Stevensville.

The Loggers put together a 2-0 shutout in the win at Columbia Falls. Each team had its moments but the Libby defense held its ground and Lewis Brossman let nothing get past him for the goose egg.

“Columbia Falls played a better possession game than Libby,” Loggers coach Charlie Webster said. “We played a long-ball game and it worked well for us.”

Scott Harlow opened the scoring with an impressive goal in the game’s seventh minute. Cree Maloney took a throw-in pass from Nick Reny and cross-centered the ball to Harlow, who put his team up 1-0 on a header into the net.

In the second half, the Loggers went up 2-0 when Columbia Falls scored on itself. The closest Libby player was Reny, who touched the ball deep in the zone. A Columbia Falls defender tried to clear but kicked the ball into the back of the net.

The game was fairly even on the stat sheet with the Loggers holding a slight advantage in shots on goal (11-9). Corner kicks and fouls were even.

Playing on Libby’s own field for the first time this season, the Loggers scored three times in the first half en route to a 4-1 victory over Stevensville.

Kyle Berke scored two of those three goals. Levi Myslicki opened scoring with his shot into the net in the seventh minute.

“Levi, he’s always in the right place at the right time,” Webster said. “It’s wonderful when people can read the game like that. Anticipation is something you can’t teach.”

Cree Maloney scored unassisted in the second half when he dribbled around the keeper and drove the ball into the net.

Evan May finished with two assists. Brossman had nine saves.

“We played a fun possession game in the first half,” Webster said. “We dominated the first half but the second half was a different story. Š The good news for me as a coach is that even though we’re playing excellent soccer, we can still improve and keep getting better.”

The Loggers (2-0, 4-1) head to Polson on Saturday.