Pirates leave showcase 'Howell-ing'

In Missoula at Washington-Grizzly Stadium this past Saturday, November 15th, the 2014 rendition of the Western Montana soccer senior showcase was jointly hosted by the Flathead Rapids and the Missoula Strikers.

Both senior boys and girls were divided into teams representing the Flathead Valley vs. the Missoula Valley, with some adjustments being made when rosters were thin on account of the frigid arctic weather pattern that hovered around 10 degrees on the field of play.

Both Missoula Valley teams prevailed in the contest.  

The Five Valley girls just edged the Flathead Valley girls by the narrow margin of 1-0.

Polson Lady Pirate Sarah Howell was selected  as Flathead Valley girls MVP as she had a pair of shots-on-goal on frame with one zinger pinging off the crossbar that coincided with her exceptional quality of all-around play.

Lady Pirate Keely Clairmont had a shot attempt that carried wide, while Bigfork Val Grace Rehbein, formerly of Polson, helped shore up the defense in the backfield.

In the boys contest, the Missoula Valley all-stars took the contest 5-2 with Bigfork Viking Kyle Thomson earning MVP honors for the Flathead Valley boys side.  

Polson Pirate Alex Helgeson played left defender and did a great job according to Flathead Rapids President and Whitefish boys soccer coach O’Brien Byrd, who commented that Helgeson was “a rock in the back, one of the more consistent players whose physical presence and speed won a share of ball possessions.”

 A more comprehensive set of game stat data was unattainable on account of the extremely cold conditions that kept fingers tucked away in gloves or other apparel.  

Had such been attempted, their legibility might have been difficult to decipher due to the shivering of the hand attempting to write them down and the frostbitten paper being written upon.

Flathead Valley Girls All-Star Team

Polson - Sarah Howell (mf), Keely Clairmont (df)

Bigfork - Grace Rehbein (df), Megan Pancoast (fw)

CFalls - Lindsey Strouse (fw), Meagan Seliger (df)

Whitefish - Grace Kurtz (few), Jess Maldonado (few)

Stillwater - Janelle Falk (mf)

Flathead - Zoe Zander (gk), Monica White (fw)

Glacier - Maddie Paulson (fw), Ally Staats (df/mf)

Five Valleys Girls All-Star Team

Sandpoint - Heidi Skinner (df), Corine Arlss (df)

Loyola - Taylor Short (gk), Mikayla Schneider (fw), Whitney Bowditch (df)

Corvallis - Katelyn Frost (mf), Katie Weber (df), Katie Landis (mf)

Frenchtown - Sarah Brennan (df)

Big Sky - Kayla McCampbell (fw)

Hellgate - Stella Gardner (df), Ruby Kazemi (mf), Kate Johnston (df), Remy Arnot (mf)

Sentinel - Lexi Steele (fw), Anna Melugin (mf), Hadley Jones (df)