Polson boys fall short

LIBBY — In the end, it just wasn’t quite enough.

In a two game weekend stretch that determined the two Northwestern A playoff teams, the Polson boys soccer team fell to Libby on Thursday 2-1, but beat Bigfork 4-3. Because Whitefish defeated Libby 5-0 on Saturday, the Pirates were the odd team out of the playoffs, a disappointing end result for an experienced, tough Polson team. 

“Libby played us tough,” head coach Jess Kittle said. “Both teams knew that the winner would have the edge at being the conference champion.”v

In the first game Thursday afternoon, the Pirates lost in heartbreaking fashion. Polson fell 2-1 to Libby in one of the most important games of the season for both teams. With the win, Libby clinched a playoff spot, while Polson still faced an uphill battle in its quest for the postseason.

Libby struck first with a goal in the 19th minute. That was all the scoring until the end of the game. Senior midfielder Peter Hanson finally broke through for the Pirates in the 77th minute, giving Polson momentum and hope to pull out the victory.

“After we scored the game tying goal, I told our defense to push forward to try for the win but that backfired and Libby got the game winner instead,” Kittle said.

Libby scored the go-ahead goal in the 79th minute, creating the following scenario for the weekend’s final games of the regular season: Polson would need to beat Bigfork and Libby would need to defeat Whitefish.

The Pirates kept up their end of the bargain, winning a thrilling, come-from-behind victory over Bigfork 4-3, but Whitefish came out motivated for the final playoff spot and demolished a playoff-bound Libby team 5-0.

Polson fell behind early against Bigfork, allowing two goals in a three-minute span. Rather than beat themselves up over the lapse, the Pirates came back firing, scoring three goals in the last 14 minutes of the half to take a 3-2 halftime lead.

“Bigfork played very well and had us on our heels at the beginning of the game,” Kittle said. “I am proud of the way we came back in this game. It proved we can come from behind to win a game.”

Bigfork wasn’t done either. It scored a tying goal eight minutes into the second half. Kittle said the fight he saw in his team after that goal was what made these Pirates a special bunch.

“After Bigfork scored again [to tie the game], I didn’t see any Polson players hanging their heads or getting down on themselves,” he said. “They dug deep and knew they could turn the game around and they went out and proved it.”

The Pirates once again scored a late goal, getting the winning tally in the 74th minute on a shot by sophomore Joakim Kongelf, assisted by senior Peter Hanson. Despite losing four seniors after this season, including Hanson, who scored eight goals and had four assists on the season, Kittle is hopeful for the future, with younger players getting getting good experience for the next year. He said goals against Bigfork scored by sophomore Jonathan Murphy and Kongelf were the first of their respective varsity careers.

The Pirates finished 7-4-1 overall and 5-2-1 in conference. Kittle said All-State and All-Conference players will be named after the state championship game in a few weeks, with some Pirates having a chance at being selected for one or both of those honors.