SOCCER SWEETNESS
<p>Front Row, L to R Maksat Toktarov, Trevor Basler, Sutton Kanta. Back Row, Coaches Jeff Heutmaker and Dever Graham, Sam Heutmaker, Spencer Raymond, Andrew Lichte, Patrick Hammer, Morgan Moll, Alex Helgeson, Dylan Cooper, Jonah Kasnitz, Jacob Raymond, Cash Sisler Front Row, L to R Maksat Toktarov, Trevor Basler and Sutton Kanta.</p>
GREAT FALLS — If you want the ingre-dients for a soccer championship, look no further than the Polson FC U16 Boys squad that took home the gold last weekend at the Montana State Cup. They may have been drenched because of the weather at the end of the game, but the squad combined tactical defensive plays with a controlling midfield, tough ball winning and their best stretches of possession to capture a state championship for the Lake City.
GREAT FALLS — If you want the ingre-dients for a soccer championship, look no further than the Polson FC U16 Boys squad that took home the gold last weekend at the Montana State Cup. They may have been drenched because of the weather at the end of the game, but the squad combined tactical defensive plays with a controlling midfield, tough ball winning and their best stretches of possession to capture a state championship for the Lake City.
In a storyline that couldn’t be replicated by the best efforts of Disney, Warner Bros. and the SyFy Channel, Polson FC overcame two losses to begin the State Cup and won three straight games to capture the tourna-ment title. Polson FC had just won their first games of the season the previous week at the Three Blind Refs Tournament in Kalispell.
“The team was elated,” Polson FC coach Jeff Heutmaker said. “We figured out to play a style that made the other team chase the ball. We played the ball around the back, worked it up through the midfield and then made some quick combination passes around the box that lead to goals. It’s a style of play that Dever (Graham) and I have been working with them all year. It was really some-thing to behold.”
The team gained confidence and the will to win as the tournament went on. Trevor Basler anchored things at goalie, helping lead his team from the box, and was sup ported by the gritty defensive play of Dylan Cooper, Alex Helgeson, Spencer Raymond and Jake Raymond. Heutmaker said his mid-field did a great job controlling and holding onto the ball. The key to any soccer victory, midfield players Sam Heutmaker, Andrew Lichte, Jonah Kasnitz, Morgan Moll and Sutten Kanta, helped keep the flow of the ball in Polson’s favor. Up front and attacking the goal was Max Taktarov, Patrick Hammer and Cash Sisler.
The State Cup pool play began with a 3-2 loss to the Flathead Force, and a 5-0 setback at the hands of Bozeman. However, the boys picked themselves up, brushed themselves off and surged through bracket play. In the quarterfinals, they soundly defeated the Sid-ney Youth Soccer team 4-1 and faced off against the Flathead Force in the semi-finals. They turned things around against the Force, a team that had beaten Polson three times this season, and won the game 2-1 to advance to the state championship game.
Scoring goals in the semifinals matchup were Hammer, on an assist from Taktarov, and Taktarov on a brilliant through ball from Lichte that Max slotted home.Their opponent in the championship game? None other than the Bozeman Blitzz, the team that had defeated them 5-0 the day before.
However, Polson FC had a plan and carried it out to perfection. The team and coaching staff had noticed Bozeman ran its offense through one forward player in the first game. So they sent defensive bulldog Spencer Raymond after him, marking Bozeman’s star player for most the game and effectively neutralizing him.
“We were also getting to the ball first all over the pitch and our two central midfielders, were controlling the game thanks to the efforts of Sam and Andrew and the whole team winning the ball out of the air,” Heumaker said. “We were also linking up with our forwards and when we got closer to the penalty box, we made the quick combination passes that we needed to.”
Raymond’s defense disrupted Bozeman to the point of frustration and penetrating runs by Jonah Kasnitz, Jake Raymond and Helgeson left the exposed for the attack. While the Blitz took the early 1-0 lead at halftime, Polson FC had the confidence going into the second half.
“We were taking the ball away from them before they could shoot it,” Heutmaker said. “I remember at halftime, someone asked what we were going to do if the game went to penalty kicks and the team’s response was it’s not going to penalty kicks. I think our guys knew that they could win the game and the championship from the opening kickoff.”
In the second half, both goals came from shots on goal out of midfield that deflected off the Bozeman keeper and pounded into the goal by Hammer, whose last name rang true at the state tournament.
“We were in their half of the field for most of the second half,” Heutmaker said. “I’d say it was about 70 to 30 percent us in terms of possession.”
The Polson FC U16 team was certainly young, with three eighth graders and five freshmen on the team, but they played with confidence when it mattered and came home with a trophy to be proud of. Polson FC beat two teams that had hand-ed them losses at some point during the year or tournament. Sweet vindication after a tough year.
“This was a season that turned into a great season over-night,” Heutmaker said. “The kids really started to do all the things that we tried to teach them throughout the season and it all came together in the end.”