Celebrating
Members of the victorious Kootenai Rapids U-16 soccer team hold goalie David Brooks in the air after he made the final save in the state championship game in Butte. (Photo by Stephanie Lundin)
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Kootenai Rapids U-16 team
The Kootenai Rapids U-16 team celebrates winning the state championship. Front row, from left: James Hare, Greg Lundin, Jaime Gilden, David Brooks, Edson Vences, Daniel Webster, Patrick Valentine and Arne Sailer. Back row: Marco Vences, Kevin Peel, Andrew Petersen, Elias Lapka, Edgar Cano, Dylan Berget, Myka Forster, coach Cindy Lapka, Crawford Dinning, coach Robert Lundin and coach Jim Valentine. (Photo by Stephanie Lundin)
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U-16 Rapids win state title in overtime shootout
by Stephanie Lundin, for the Kootenai Valley Record
June 18, 2009
The Kootenai Rapids U-14 and U-16 teams finished their soccer season in Butte at the Montana Cup. It was a miserable weekend weather-wise with snow, wind, rain and just cold, but the teams played through it without thinking about it.
The U-14 team played three games at the Cup with one win and two losses.
The Rapids won their first game against Livingston with a score of 5-1. The goals in this game were scored by Jason Schnackenberg, Talus Martin, Laine Twigg and Barak Lapka. The players had a good game all the way around, even through the blowing snow.
The Rapids then played Red Lodge that afternoon and lost with a score of 2-1. Talus Martin was the lone goal for that game. The Rapids then played Butte on Sunday morning and lost with a score of 4-0.
The offense and defense both played good games all the way through and tried to not let the weather get the best of them.
The U-16 team had a great weekend of games and once again came home with the championship medal. The games started off against Stevensville with a win of 3-1. Crawford Dinning had a hat trick for that game, and that made him the Rapids’ only scorer for the game.
The Rapids then played Livingston on Sunday morning and defeated them 3-2. The goals were provided by Elias Lapka off a great left-footed shot. Patrick Valentine added the other two goals, with one of them being assisted by Greg Lundin to Crawford Dinning then to Patrick Valentine for the goal.
The third game was also played against Livingston, and the Rapids won this one also with a score of 3-2. This game was a very hard-fought game by both teams with Elias Lapka making a unassisted goal off from his left foot and Crawford Dinning making another goal with a long assist from Patrick Valentine.
Livingston in the second half was able to tie the game up at 2-2, which sent the game into overtime. The teams played through the two overtime periods with no scores. During the second OT period, David Brooks made a tremendous save of a penalty kick to put the game into the shootout to determine the winner.
Livingston made one of their four shots on the goal while the Rapids made all three of the shots they were able to take. Elias Lapka made the first goal, then Crawford Dinning made the second shot and Greg Lundin made the winning shot for the Rapids.
It was a very exciting game for the team, and now they have defeated Livingston three years in row for the championship title.
The Rapids U-12 team has one more weekend of games, and they travel to their state tournament in Kalispell. Overall this has been a good year for all the Rapids teams. A big thank you to all the volunteers and parents for their time and commitment to make this season happen.
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Editor’s Note: See the June 16, 2009 edition of the Kootenai Valley Record for the printed version of this story. The Kootenai Valley Record publishes once a week, now on Tuesday, in Libby, Montana. They are a locally owned community newspaper, located at 403 Mineral Avenue in Libby. For in-county and out-of-county subscription information, call 406-293-2424, or e-mail kvrecord@gmail.com.
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