Polson FC wins state

GREAT FALLS - The Polson FC U19 boys soccer team made a dominant run to the Montana State Cup championship last weekend in Great Falls.

They had to get a few monkeys off their back to do so.

Polson FC breezed through the first two games of pool play. First, they thumped the Belgrade Soccer Royals 8-0 to kick off the tournament.

"The guys were just clicking," Polson FC head coach Ron Hanson said. "We took some shots that hadn't gone in all year and they went in."

Their second game of pool play had them pitted against the Helena Soccer Blue. The Blue jumped out to a 2-0 lead at halftime.

"They really played us well in the first half," Hanson said. "But the guys knew what they needed to do and what they needed to change."

Polson FC stormed back in the second half, securing the 4-3 victory.

"If we're the ones getting to the ball first, we tend to do better," Hanson said.

They were handed their only "blemish" of the weekend with a 1-1 tie against the Livingston Raiders.

"It was our second game of the day and it was Livingston's first," Hanson said.

Since the team had played from behind in their second game, they were worn down, Hanson said.

They still led 1-0 in the late stages of the game but a call in the penalty box gave the Raiders a free penalty kick, which they converted to a goal. The tie prevented them from getting the No. 1 seed, but still got them into the championship game ranked No. 2.

However, it was against an old foe on the pitch.

"Before this year, this group of guys hadn't beaten Libby in years," Hanson said.

Despite a very competitive field, one where Hanson estimates that five out of the seven teams could have played in the championship game, Polson FC found themselves playing against the Kootenai Rapids from Libby.

"We wanted them again in the finals," Hanson said.

They had exercised the demons earlier in the season, beating Libby 6-0 in the league play and were able to etch that same score to win the Montana State Cup championship.

"It was totally a team weekend," Hanson said. "Seven different guys scored goals."

In four games, Polson FC gave up just four goals while scoring 19 goals themselves. Two of those goals scored against them were on penalty kicks.

U19 Girls finish undefeated

The Polson FC 14U Girl's team didn't lose over the weekend at the Montana State Cup, finishing third in the tournament due to some interesting circumstances.

The girls battled from two-goal deficits in both their pool play games. On Friday, they came back from a 4-2 halftime deficit to tie Stevensville. Then on Saturday, they trailed Belgrade 2-0 and had to mount another comeback for the draw.

"I loved the spirit and the never give up attitude in these girls," Polson FC head coach Jess Kittle said. "I thought the touches were a little off. We could have gotten away with wins in both of those games."

The two ties didn't qualify them for the championship game and instead they played the winner of the fourth and fifth seed teams for third place in the tournament.

They once again took on Belgrade, earning their first win of the tournament with a 4-1 victory and winning the third-place trophy in the Montana State Cup.

"It's kind of a rough feeling," Kittle said. "I would have loved to see them in the championship game, but we kind of did it to ourselves getting down early in our pool play games."

Kittle credited the great play from goalkeeper Jacie Morrison for part of the team's success.

"She was getting to balls that the other team thought they were going to get one-on-keeper opportunities," he said.

He was also impressed by the play of Kaydee Borchers on defense.

Borchers was able to get to many balls that were getting played up by the other team's offense. Midfielder Reegan von Wildenradt was also a star at mid-field.

"She controlled the flow of the game," Kittle said. "She's vital to our team with her composure."

Wing Sarah Devlin was solid all weekend with her crossing and dribbling skills, including a goal scored from 24-yards out. She also notched an assist from the same distance out, but instead of scoring she crossed to Brynn Rowley for the goal.

"Sarah's play was vital to us all," Kittle said. "Everybody came up huge."

U14 Girls take second

The Polson FC U14 girls had won just one game all season. They had lost five players right before the state tournament. They didn't seem to mind though, as they placed second in the U14 Red Flight at the Montana State Cup.

"We rounded up kids that hadn't played in over a year," U14 girls head coach Heidi Howell said.

The girls were also a collection of 11 to 14-year-olds whereas the other teams in the tournament were strictly 14-year-olds.

They started off pool play with a loss to Glacier United 5-2, but bounced back to a 5-5 tie with the Bozeman Blitz.

"Bozeman was in shock," Howell said.

Riding that momentum, Polson FC was able to defeat the Missoula Strikers 2-1 and qualify for the championship game.

"They played together as a team and they all worked together," Howell said.

In the championship game, they were tied with Glacier United 0-0 until 15 minutes to go in the game when Glacier put in the winning goal.

All the goals in the tournament were scored by Amelia Brooks and Sarah Howell. Despite being triple-teamed by defenders, Brooks was still able to find the back of the net.

Howell was able to score from over 18-yards away from the goal and provide assists to Brooks.

"Every one of them went off the field with a smile," Howell said.