COLUMBIA FALLS – The Columbia Falls girls’ soccer team earned a berth in the Class A state final for the first time since 2004 Saturday with a win over Livingston in a semifinal playoff match that went to a shootout.

Deadlocked in a 1-1 tie after two overtime periods, Columbia Falls (12-1-1) scored four goals in the shootout to Livingston’s two. Scoring for the Wildkats were Danielle Delventhal, Alexi Corbett, Meagan Seliger and Katie Price.

“We have a good keeper and it was huge she made one save in the shootout,” Columbia Falls coach Rick Trenerry said of Kira Kamrud.

Columbia Falls will play host to four-time defending state champion Billing Central (14-0-0) in the title match Saturday at 11 a.m. The Wildkats will be out for revenge after dropping a 3-0 home decision to Central on Sept. 7.

Columbia Falls forced extra play Saturday thanks to Haley Purdy’s match-tying goal. It came from close range in the 76th minute on a crossing pass from Delventhal just outside the 18-yard box.

“The thing I give our girls credit for is staying with it,” Trenerry said. “A lot of teams would have been down by then and maybe quit.

“Livingston came out really hard in the first half. They played well and got us rattled. We made some adjustments and talked to the girls at halftime.”

The Wildkats finished with a 14-8 edge in shots. Livingston finished with a record of 6-5-0.

Livingston 1 0 0 0 – 1

Columbia Falls 0 1 0 0 – 1

L – Angelica Silvestrone (assist Emily Fochs), 13:00

C – Haley Purdy, Danielle Delventhal, 76:00

Penalty shootout

Livingston – Julia Deen (goal), Haley Dowdell (miss), Angie Gelderloos (saved), Angelica Silvestrone (goal).

Columbia Falls – Danielle Delventhal (goal), Alexi Corbett (goal), Meagan Seliger (goal), Haley Purdy (miss), Katie Price (goal).

Shots – Livingston 8, Columbia Falls 14. Saves – Livingston 11 (Mia Stewart), Columbia Falls 5 (Kira Kamrud). Corner kicks – Livingston 4, Columbia Falls 4. Total fouls – Livingston 3, Columbia Falls 6. Yellow cards - none. Red cards - none.

ELSEWHERE

Girls

Billings Central 2, Whitefish 1

At Billings, the four-time defending state champion Rams rallied from an early deficit to eliminate the Bulldogs in a Class A playoff semifinal.

Cassidy Grady gave Whitefish a lead with her goal in the 18th minute. Central, which will play at Columbia Falls in the state title match next Saturday, rallied with goals by Allie Lucas in the 52nd minute and Holly Davidson in the 72nd.

As late as Friday Davidson didn’t think she’d be able to play because of a serious ankle injury. She was on crutches and wearing a boot for most of the week.

The Bulldogs finished with a record of 10-4-0. Central boosted its mark to 14-0-0.

Whitefish 1 0 – 1

Bill. Central 0 2 – 2

W – Cassidy Grady, 18:00

B – Allie Lucas (assist Sammy Elliott), 52:00

B – Holly Davidson, 72:00

Shots – Whitefish 5, Central 15. Saves – Whitefish 13 (Piper Greenwood), Central 4 (Hadley Ryan).

Boys

Whitefish 8, Frenchtown 0

At Whitefish, the defending Class A champion Bulldogs reached the state finals for the second straight year behind four goals by Nathan Boone.

Whitefish (14-0-0) will play host to Billings Central (13-1-0) in the title match on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. Frenchtown finished up its breakthrough season with a mark of 8-3-2.

Whitefish took a lead in the 22nd minute on a goal by Iaian Cameron and never looked back. Boone followed with a pair of goals leading up to halftime. The match then turned into a blowout when Boone scored twice in the first 11 minutes of the second half.

Whitefish finished with a 17-6 edge in shots. Keeper Matt Hayes had 16 saves for Frenchtown.

Frenchtown 0 0 – 0

Whitefish 3 5 – 8

W – Iaian Cameron (assist Curran Edland), 22:00

W – Nathan Boone (Tommy Murphy), 33:00

W – Boone (Sam Donaldson), 40:00

W – Boone, 46:00

W – Boone (Murphy), 51:00

W – Murphy, 61:00

W – Donaldson (Brandon Fuehrer), 74:00

W – Sean Janni (Taven Edland), 80:00

Shots – Frenchtown 6, Whitefish 17. Saves – Frenchtown 16 (Matt Hayes), Whitefish 6 (Thomas Clark). Corner kicks – Frenchtown 3, Whitefish 6. Total fouls – Frenchtown 7, Whitefish 7. Yellow card – Whitefish. Red cards – none.

Billings Central 4, Stevensville 0

At Billings, the Yellowjackets saw their season come to an end in a Class A semifinal playoff match that saw the Rams dominate in shots, 16-8.

Central jumped in front on a Conor Sheehy goal in the eighth minute. Stevensville stayed within striking distance until the 13th minute of the second half when the Rams scored an important insurance goal.

The Yellowjackets finished with an 8-5-1 record. Central (13-1-0) avenged its only loss of the season and will play at Whitefish in the state title match Saturday at 1:30 p.m.

Stevensville 0 0 – 0

Billings Central 1 3 – 4

B – Conor Sheehy (assist Nolan Trafton), 8:00

B – Nico Gallegos (penalty kick), 53:00

B – Gallegos (Sheehy), 67:00

B – Zach Wall (Sheehy), 75:00

Shots – Stevensville 8, Central 16. Saves – Stevensville 4 (J.J. O’Bannon), Central 6 (Joey Thompson).

As late as Friday, Holly Davison didn’t think she’d be available to play in Billings Central’s State A playoff semifinal soccer match against Whitefish.

Turns out Davison is a quick healer.

The senior striker bounced back from a serious ankle injury she suffered the week prior to score the game-winning goal in the Rams’ 2-1 victory Saturday at Wendy’s Field on the campus of Rocky Mountain College.

The win sent Central on to the title match, where they’ll try to win their fifth consecutive championship.

The victory preceded a 4-0 win by Central’s boys over Stevensville in their semifinal match. Conor Sheehy had a goal and two assists for the Rams, who will make their first championship appearance since winning the title in 2009.

Central (14-0-0) travels to face Columbia Falls on Saturday for the girls crown, while the Ram boys (13-1-0) head to Whitefish.

Central girls 2, Whitefish 1

The Rams (14-0-0) found themselves trailing 18 minutes into the game when Whitefish freshman Cassidy Grady scored from about 30 yards away. Central was trying to clear a corner kick when Grady got the ball and fired a dead-eye shot.

“We’ve been talking all week about coming out strong and being really physical and challenging every ball,” said Whitefish coach Wendy Farrens. “If we did that we knew that we would get one.”

It was just the second goal Central has given up all season. But the Rams regrouped, hunkered down and eventually tied the game when Allie Lucas scored 12 minutes after halftime.

Central dominated possession in the second half, and Davison scored the game-winner when she got her foot on a loose ball after Sammy Elliott’s corner kick with less than 10 minutes to go.

Davison hurt her ankle in Central’s 6-0 quarterfinal win over Frenchtown. Actually, it was an aggravation of a sprain she suffered earlier in the season.

Davison was on crutches and wearing a boot for most of the week, and wasn’t cleared to play until the day before the game.

“It was really scary at first because it hurt so bad,” she said. “But I wasn’t ready to not play this weekend. We took extreme care of it to get it healed.”

Still, Central coach Laurie Stergar wasn’t convinced. Stergar made Davison prove in practice that she was ready to play.

“We got a miracle,” Stergar said. “The doctor said (Davison) would not be playing. Even if they cleared her, which they had, if she could not show me she could cut the same way on that ankle, I was not going to play her. But she did it, so we put her back in.”

In the title match, Central will go against a Columbia Falls team that earned a semifinal victory over Livingston in a shootout Saturday. It will be the Rams’ sixth state championship appearance in the last seven years.

“It’s going to take really strong mental toughness,” Davison said. “We’re all going to have to focus at practice. We just have to keep doing what we’re doing and play as a team.”

Central boys 4, Stevensville 0

The lone blemish for Central’s boys team this season was a 4-1 loss to -- you guessed it -- Stevensville in early September.

But, in addition to Sheehy’s effort, Nico Gallegos scored two goals and the Rams refined their approach to get a measure of payback and advance to the championship match.

Sheehy scored the first goal in the eighth minute to give Central a one-goal first-half lead, and Gallegos scored two in a row, the first on a penalty kick, to help the team pull away.

“We just played simple,” Gallegos said. “Passing the ball around, possessing the ball, that’s our strategy. That’s what we did and we got the win.”

Gallegos’ second goal developed off a cross from Sheehy, and Gallegos banged the ball into the goal to give the Rams a 3-0 lead in the 67th minute. Zach Wall tacked on an insurance goal, though they didn’t need it, not long before the final whistle.

The win represents another step forward for Central’s program in the first season of coach Didier Ndedi, a former professional soccer player and a native of the African country of Cameroon.

“I’m excited for the kids,” Ndedi said. “It’s been a long time (since) they’ve been in that position. Now we have all week to work and try winning.”

The Rams will try to win the championship against undefeated juggernaut Whitefish, which throttled Frenchtown 8-0 in the semis Saturday.

“Like I always say, ‘Just stay on the way we’re playing and the way we learned how to play,’” Ndedi said. “If we stay on that, we’re going to make it. We know how we need to play.”