U16 Rapids co-ed soccer team wins Montana Cup title

The U16 Coed Kootenai Rapids soccer team won a shootout in Great Falls the weekend of June 11-12 to claim the 2022 Montana Cup Tournament.

Teams from Montana cities and towns journeyed from all over the state to compete. In their opening match on Saturday, the Rapids team met up with Lewistown and handily won with a score of 8-3. In their second match of the day, the Rapids battled Big Sky and the match ended in a tie of 2-2.

On Sunday, June 12, the Rapids played an early morning semifinal match against Big Sky who they had tied the evening before. A victory would send them into the championship later that afternoon. The match ended with a 4-4 tie.

A shoot off was needed to determine which team would advance to the championship. In the shoot off, each team would provide five players who would each kick a penalty kick attempting to score a goal while the opposite team’s goalie defended the net.

The Rapids goalie, Anna Palister, fought hard and deflected two goal attempts in the shoot off. After Rapids players, Anna Pallister, Isaac Lamere, Dylan Warner, Gabe Hollingsworth, and Alderic Martineau had their turn to kick, the score was still tied.

Each team then had to choose another player to attempt to score. Sami Jocks, the Rapids sixth kicker, sealed the victory for the Rapids, scoring on the Big Sky goalie with an amazing kick to the bottom right hand corner and making the final score 1-0. The Rapids were off to the championship to face a tough Hi-Line United team.

Hi-Line came out strong and scored two goals early in the match. The Rapids team worked together and fought hard to tie with a score of 2-2. Dylan Warner scored two goals which were both assisted by Gabe Hollingsworth from corner kicks.

Hi-Line then broke the tie with another goal. The Kootenai Rapids did not give up and tied up the match with a pass from Sami Jocks to Gabe Gier for a goal. For the second time that day, the Kootenai Rapids found themselves battling for a victory in a five player shoot off. Again, Anna Pallister defended the net for the Rapids and did a stellar job.

After four kicks a piece, the Rapids were ahead 4-3 with Gabe Hollingsworth, Gabe Gier, Issac Lamere and Dylan Warner all landing their ball into the net. The last Hi-Line player’s kick made its mark which tied the game 4-4.

The Rapids team had one kicker left. Alderic Martineau sent the ball past the goalie into the bottom left hand corner of the net to end the battle. The Kootenai Rapids won the U16 Coed Championship with the official score of 1-0.

The U16 Kootenai Rapids Championship was won by Morgan Hayes, Alderic Martineau, Anna Pallister, Gabe Gier, Kaydence Stanek, Marissa Hollingsworth, Charlie Weber, Maggie Fantozzi, Sami Jocks, Kylee Derryberry, Keyera Haischere, Gabe Hollingsworth, Aaron Thomas, Isaac Lamere, and Dylan Warner. Jossilyn Gassman and Maddie Vincent were contributors of the team in the regular season, but were unable to attend the tournament. The U16 Rapids were coached by Matt Warner and Nicci Hollingsworth.