COLUMBIA FALLS — A lot of coaches would trade two top goal scorers for 10 seniors. Columbia Falls girls soccer coach Greg Trenerry has the luxury of having both.
Under their 15th-year head coach, the Wildkats have emerged as one of the state’s best and most prolific teams this fall, tallying a 10-1 record and outscoring opponents 80-7 led by Danielle Delventhal and McKenzie Kiser.
Delventhal, a junior, has scored a Class A-best 23 goals followed by Kiser, a senior with 21. Both girls are No. 1 and No. 2 in the state as of Oct. 3. Lisa Carter owns the school record with 27 goals set in 2004 when the program won its first and only state championship.
Perhaps the prolific goal scoring stands out on paper. But on the field, the success is linked to every pair of cleats out there, from defense to midfield to forward.
“We’re kind of like a family. We work really well together and that kind of transfers onto the field,” Kiser, a forward and one of the team’s co-captains, said.
A separate conversation included the same explanation for success.
“Like all the girls say, we’re like a family. We’re very close knit. It helps out in the field,” Cedar Jordt, a senior co-captain and center midfielder, said.
After a recent practice at the school, Trenerry shook his head and laughed when asked how beneficial it was to have a cohesive, senior-heavy team succeeding like this year’s group.
It wasn’t always like this, he pointed out.
“They’ve learned a lot of things the hard way,” he said. “I’m just hoping they don’t have any more to learn.”
This week, the Wildkats prepare for their run into the state playoffs with a final regular-season test against Whitefish at home.
Whitefish, last year’s Class A runner-up team, is dominant again, with a 7-3 record and two great scorers of their own, Megan Danzcyk (16) and Natalie Gayner (14).
On Sept. 15 on the road, Columbia Falls edged Whitefish 4-3.
“We’re at our peak and Whitefish is right there too,” Trenerry said.
This season, Columbia Falls has stepped out of their rival’s shadow and has a shot at winning the conference and finishing undefeated in Northern A for the first time since the team’s seniors played together in youth club soccer.
“We have to go a lot farther to accomplish our big dreams of what our senior year is going to end up being,” Madison Sandefer, an outside midfielder, said.
Three seasons ago, that goal was far from sight.
The 10 seniors were freshmen, and six were starting. The girls only won two games that year, Trenerry said, and came away with a lesson for the future that was hard-earned but still positive.
Despite only two wins they made the playoffs because of Northern A’s three-team inclusion that year. In the first-round, the Wildkats faced the top seed, Hamilton, on the road. The Broncs led 4-2 with only minutes remaining in the game when the Wildkats came alive. Two quick goals in the final two minutes sent it into overtime, and suddenly the state’s best team was facing a major upset.
But Trenerry watched as experience and confidence overtook youth. Hamilton scored with two minutes left in overtime to win 5-4 and eliminate Columbia Falls.
“They didn’t take the momentum and go after the win, they were too young to realize,” Trenerry said of the Wildkats. “They dominated for 15 minutes, then let up and all of a sudden ‘boom.’”
The following year, the girls improved to a 6-4-2 record. But this time it was a tie that doomed the Wildkats. Against Bigfork, coached by Trenerry’s daughter Hauna, Columbia Falls tied in the final regular season game and didn’t advance to the playoffs by the closest of margins.
With added experience and motivation, the girls made a leap last year, finishing the season 10-3 for second place in the conference behind Whitefish. Back in the first round of the playoffs, the girls faced a familiar opponent, Hamilton. Despite the improvement from years earlier, the result was the same. The Broncs eliminated the Wildkats, 3-1.
Now a seasoned group, the Wildkats have shown they’re well prepared and well skilled.
“We’ve learned a lot (from previous seasons),” Sandefer said.
Trenerry looks back at this year’s game against Whitefish with pride. His team fell behind early, as they had many times before. But this time they didn’t let up. The Wildkats scored three unanswered goals.
“They got down one, they answered,” Trenerry said. “That’s the difference between a couple years ago and now. A couple years ago they would have sat back and let them have two more. But they’ve learned. They’ve matured a lot as a team.”
Columbia Falls’ only loss of the season so far came against Belgrade in the fourth game. The Wildkats narrowly lost to the Panthers, 2-1. Belgrade went on to snap three-time defending state champion Billings Central’s 48-game win streak on Sept. 9 with a 3-1 victory.
“We know we’re right in there,” Trenerry said.
The Wildkats believe so, too.
“If we play like we know we can, I think we have a huge chance of going a long way,” Jordt said. “It’s going to be emotional when it’s over but it’s a really fun year, especially if we take it as far as we think we can.”