Girls Soccer gets first win vs. Bigfork

Libby girls’ soccer can check something off its season to-do list: win.

For the first time since taking over as the girls team head coach, Joe Cik piloted the Lady Loggers to a victory, an emphatic 4-0 win over the Bigfork Vikings.

Callan Peel scored in the 49th minute and assisted with Sarah Nash and Elly Webster goals to seal the game against the beleaguered Vikings.

“The big thing wasn’t the win itself,” Cik said. “It was playing like a complete team. The numbers kind of speak for themselves.”

The Lady Loggers have scored eight goals in three games, outdoing last season’s output already, Cik said.

Don’t feel bad for the Vikings though, as just a day before Libby came to Bigfork, Whitefish paid a visit to the Lady Loggers and proceeded to run up the score, 13-2. The Bulldogs kept their starters in late and pressed even when the game was out-of-hand.

Libby keeper Becca Kyriss put in a heroic effort with 20 saves, but Whitefish proved it is still the team to beat in the region. Breanna Opland scored both for the Lady Loggers. The girls team record stands at 1-1-1.

The boys had a little less luck, falling 5-0 to Whitefish and 2-1 to Bigfork.

The one-touch passing of the Bulldogs kept the Logger defense on edge, but as Whitefish returned seven starters from its state championship team, they could almost operate at will.

Defenders Jake Reny and Bohdan Yakovenko, and midfielders Adam Neisess, Zander Peterson, Jeremy Helmrick and Jonathan Miller fought a valiant defensive effort, but senior keeper Austin Nagle still had 12 saves from too-close balls.

Next day, like the girls team, Libby travelled to Bigfork, where the Vikings capitalized early. Nagle injured his shoulder and freshman Peterson stepped in goal.

Freshman Johnny Davidson scored the lone goal for the Loggers. Libby has a 1-2-0 record.

The boys play Laurel 4 p.m. Friday in Troy. The girls play at 6 p.m. The girls face Billings Central at 10 a.m. Saturday, boys at noon.