Northwest A recognizes five Polson soccer players

POLSON — Five Polson soccer players received postseason honors for their play this season.

Polson girls soccer leading scorer Sarah Howell earned all-state honors, coach Michael Hewston said. Howell, a junior, was joined by fellow junior Linnea Madsen and freshman Olivia Hewston on the Northwest A all-conference team.

Juniors Alex Helgeson and Spencer Raymond were both named all-conference for the Polson boys.

Howell’s 13 goals this season was tops on the team and ranked third in the Northwest A conference. She also led the Pirates with seven assists.

Madsen collected seven goals and an assist on the season, notching a hat trick in Polson’s final regular-season match against Libby.

Hewston anchored Polson’s defensive unit as a freshman as the Pirates finished 6-6-1 on the season, 4-3-1 in Northwest A.

On the boys side, Helgeson’s all-conference selection is his second in as many seasons, leading the Pirates (1-11, 1-7 Northwest A) midfield.

“Alex did a great job playing the middle of the field for us,” Polson coach Jess Kittle said. “He played all the way up top helping the attack and then would recover all the way back to be part of the back line of defense. … We are fortunate to have his leadership through the offseason and into next year.”

Raymond’s efforts for the Pirate defense and midfield earned him his first all-conference bid.

“Spencer is a great defender, but he proved to be very valuable to the team playing in midfield,” Kittle said.