Exhausted Pirates fall to Columbia Falls, Whitefish

WHITEFISH — The Pirates dropped to 0-3 in conference play after falling to Northern A foes Columbia Falls and Whitefish over the weekend.

WHITEFISH — The Pirates dropped to 0-3 in conference play after falling to Northern A foes Columbia Falls and Whitefish over the weekend.

Polson struck first in the Columbia Falls game on Friday with a goal by Morgan Moll, his second of the season, but the Pirates failed to hold on, surrendering three goals to the Wildcats to lose 3-1.

The momentum took a drastic shift right before halftime, as the Wildcats’ Casey Burghduff snuck in a goal in the last minute mark of the first half.

However, Polson head coach the goal wasn’t the source of the Pirates’ struggles to keep the ball out of the net.

“I don’t think it affected the guys’ attitudes at all out on the field,” Kittle said. “But, in the second half, we were just tired again and Columbia Falls was able to roll subs in. We just didn’t have fresh legs.”

While Kittle said his players are “not out of shape,” this has been an ongoing issue for Polson, which has allowed three goals in the final minute of halves this season.

This game was the first time they started a game with three subs, but that quickly changed when two players went out with back injuries in the first half.

On top of these problems, Kittle said his team just didn’t play well against the Wildcats.

“I wasn’t happy with how the guys played that game,” Kittle said. “We’ve shown this season that we can play a better style of soccer.”

The Pirates were able to produce five shots on goal, but allowed 14 from Columbia Falls.

Goalkeeper Spencer Kittle corralled five of those shots for saves.

Polson traveled to Whitefish the following day to take on the reigning state champion Bulldogs team.

Curran Edland, Sam Donaldson, Nathan Boone and Tommy Murphy each scored two goals apiece for Whitefish on the way to an 8-1 win over the Pirates.

Polson’s lone goal came from Jonah Kasnitz at the end of the second half, his third goal on the year.

Despite the loss, Jess Kittle was much more pleased with how the Pirates performed this time around.

“I’m happy with how we played in that game, because we did play more composed and we did our best at trying to keep possession of the ball when we had it,” Kittle said.

Kittle said the game ultimately came down to Bulldogs, who he believes likely to repeat as state champs, being a superior club. 

“Whitefish was the better team and they were able to step into our passing lanes, take the ball, and move the ball very effectively down the field for looks on our goal,” Kittle said.

Spencer Kittle faced a barrage of 20 shots in the game, but made 12 impressive saves on the day, all of which Jess Kittle described as “diving” saves or ones where he would charge and collide with oncoming shooters.

“He played a great game, I think it was probably the best game of his varsity career in the goal,” Jess Kittle said. “I was really pleased with how he played. Now he knows I’m going to expect that effort from him every game.”

Alex Helgeson, who picked up the assist on Kasnitz goal against Whitefish, continues to put together standout performances each game for the Pirates.

“He’s been consistent all year long,” Jess Kittle said. “He’s all over the field and, I don’t know how he does it, but he does a great job of keeping the ball on his feet, especially when he’s going through traffic.”

Polson’s record now stands at 1-4-0 (0-3 in conference), but Kittle said his team will not be dwelling on their past struggles moving forward.

“Right now we’re not looking at what our record is in the past, we’re looking at our next five games and what we have to do to secure our goal of of qualifying for the playoffs,” Kittle said.