FC kicks off season in Stevensville

by Brandon Hansen & Sports Editor
| April 12, 2012 10:00 AM

STEVENSVILLE — The spring-summer season for Polson FC has kicked off as the U16 girls team and the U12 boys teams traveled to a tournament in Stevensville two weeks ago.

Despite it being early season action, there were no easy games for Polson and the U16 girls faced three of the stronger spring teams in the state.

“We had a fun weekend,” U16 head coach Heidi Howell said. “The girls played really well.”

Polson FC tied their first game against Belgrade 3-3, then fell to Whitefish, 1-0. The lone goal scorer for Whitefish was a fill-in player from Stevensville that was added to the roster 10 minutes prior to game time.

Since Polson FC had just 11 players on the roster, the term “give us your full 90” took on a whole new meaning. With all the legs of girls putting in 160 minutes before their final game, Polson FC was dragging a pit and fell 6-0 to the Missoula Strikers. The Strikers would go on to win the tournament in the finals with a 1-0 victory over Whitefish.

“(Coach) Jess Kittle and I were both very impressed with how well the girls played,” Howell said. “We got stronger each game and did not give up during the second halves of games.”

The U12 boys won two games at the tournament and showed tremendous promise for the rest of the season. Polson started the tournament 2-0 with wins over the FC Missoula U11 girls and the Glacier United U12 boys.

Polson FC then played the Missoula Strikers U12 boys team in two straight games and were handed defeats. However the players weren’t daunted and came away from their opening weekend with a .500 record.

“We lost the third game but we still had a better record than the other two U12 teams,” coach Link Moderie said.

The U12 boys will host the Missoula Strikers again on Saturday at 10 a.m. at the Kerr Dam Fields.

“We should have a full team,” Moderie said. “We were short five players at the Stevi Tournament. It should be great and it will be the only home game the U12 boys will have this season.”

Another big game coming up will be the Polson FC’s U18 boys squad matchup against the Kalispell Force, a team mainly consisting of Whitefish players. It will be a rematch of the 2011 Class A State Championship game, and will take place on Saturday at 5 p.m. at the Kerr Dam Fields.