Deuces deux ex deux! Pirates tie 'Dawgs twice

At Whitefish, both visiting Polson soccer squads tied their counterpart of the vaunted Bulldog program, an athletic occurrence of such rarity that is frequency is liable to transpire about as often as a cosmic convergence of an alignment of planets.

The two boys varsity teams have faced one another twenty five times since 1997, with Polson forging a scoreless tie as well as a narrow 1-0 win back in 2009 and engineering a sweep the following season in 2010.

The remainder of the games over the years between the Pirate and Bulldog boys have been won by Whitefish, the latter holding a 20-3-2 edge in the history of encounters.

Out of two dozen meetings between the two varsity girls clubs since the inception of competition in 1997, this is the first time that a game has ended in a tie.  

The only other occurrence on par with the deadlock this past week traces back to the 2002 State A semifinal in which Polson held a 2-1 lead as the final moments of the game were winding down.

As the Polson goalkeeper was taking her time setting up the ball before it would be kicked back into play in an effort to bleed some addition ticks off the clock, the referee blew his whistle for delay of game.

But rather than a yellow card being issued to the keeper to speed things along, an irregular assessment of the infraction was implemented instead and Whitefish was awarded a free kick.

The Lady Bulldogs punched the ball past the Polson keeper to tie the 2002 semi at 2 apiece, then would advance to the championship when they won the shootout 4-2, relegating Polson to the consolation round where they would end up finishing in third place.

PREP GIRLS SOCCER

Polson 2, Whitefish 2

At Whitefish on Tuesday, Sept. 14th, the visiting Lady Pirates jumped in front early when Tiara Duford took a feed from Sarah Howell at the two minute juncture and T-ed off for a twine tingler tally.

Whitefish countered with a Jess Baldonado goal in the 25th minute, then took over the lead twelve minutes into the second half when Haley Nicholson connected with her shot off an assist from Haley Burger.

 Lady Pirate freshman striker Marina Mayorga was able to score the equalizer off an assist from Duford with about fifteen minutes remaining.

Polson held the edge in shots on goal 15-8, while Polson keeper Jenna Evertz gloved 7 saves while her Whitefish counterpart contributed a half dozen of her own.

Polson      1  1  –  2

Whitefish  1  1  –  2

P – T. Duford (a S. Howell) 2:00; T = T1 ana

W–Jess Baldonado (Grace Kurtz), 25:00

W – Haley Nicholson (Haley Burger), 52:00

P – M. Mayorga (a Duford) 64; M = Monina

SOG – Polson 15, Whitefish 9; 506 = Shots on goal.

Saves – Polson 7 (Jenna Evertz), Whitefish 6 (Kess Nelson).

CK – Polson 0, Whitefish 9; CK = Corren Kicks

Fouls–Pol 4 (Duford, Brenna Clarke, Amber Clarke), Wf 5.

 (Wf variants - sog P17W14, sv P7W15, fP5W8).

indiv sog - Howell 5, Duford 4, Mayorga 2, Linnea Madsen 2, Olivia Hewston, Keely Clairmont.

Bigfork bests Bucs in Battle of Bays

Bigfork 2, Polson 1

At Polson on Thursday, Sept. 18th, the visiting Valkyries converted a penalty kick with under 3 minutes of play remaining to break a 1-1 tie and captured the first round of the annual battle of the bays between Bigfork and Polson.  The game remained scoreless through the first half, although both teams had their share of opportunities.

In the last 20 minutes of the first half, Polson had at least a half dozen bonifide chances to gain the upper hand in the contest, but each attempt was blunted by a unified Val defensive front, among whom a resourceful Rehbein tandem played key roles.

When defender Grace Rehbein wasn’t deflecting advances by clogging  lanes or stifling ball movement, sibling keeper Celeste would quash shots with a challenging save. The Vals would strike first when freshman midfielder Haile Norred redirected the trajectory of a corner kick from junior midfielder Katie Thomas less then ten minutes into the second period.  

The Lady Pirates got a pair of good attempts off infiltration by striker Tiara Duford that sandwiched a corner kick opportunity before senior midfielder Sarah Howell punched home the equalizer about 7 minutes later. Both teams bunched a trio of shot attempts together over the course of the next ten minutes before pressure seemed to shift over toward the Polson end of the field.

Over the course of past seasons, this would ordinarily have been the juncture of the game were Bigfork would have been somewhat worn down.

But this season they demonstrated that not only did they still have plenty of fight left in them, they also had plenty of punch left in their boots.  

The Polson keeper had to fend off a couple of sniper-like 30 yd chip shots followed by an up close and personal shot attempt which was diffused when Polson keeper Jenna Evertz shortened the distance between players by challenging the play, absorbing the shot.  The Lady Pirates had a free kick opportunity to take the lead with about a half dozen minutes remaining, but the Val keeper also neutralized that attempt with another save.  Play shifted over toward the Polson end of the field once again, where senior striker Megan Pancoast launched a shot from the left side of the box that started to curl toward the inside of the right post once it caught the wind blowing in the favor of the visitors.  Whether instinctual, inadvertent or deliberate, a Polson defender tasked with protecting the right side of the goal reacted to the approaching loft as anyone intent upon protecting their quadrant would expect, but in the process an unauthorized appendage made contact with the ball.  Whether the shot would have gone in of its own accord or whether it might have deflected off the side crossbar is one of those moot academic points, for the Vals were awarded a penalty kick on account of the infraction which Thomas drilled past the keeper for a 2-1 lead with only minutes remaining.   Polson (0-1-1, 2-2-1) travels to Columbia Falls Thursday the 25th, then hosts Libby at noon on Saturday the 27th, followed by their last nonconference match in the late game against visiting Corvallis on Tuesday the 30th.  Polson deadlocked in a scoreless tie with the Kats in Columbia Falls last season, their only win against their program tracing back to 2008 in a history totaling about twenty games.  

Bigfork   0  2  -   2

Polson    0  1  -   1

B - H.Norred (a K. Thomas) 48

P - S. Howell (a K. Clairmont) 56

B - Thomas (PK) 77

SOG - Bigfork 11, Polson 18.

Sv-Bf 8 (Celeste Rehbein),

Polson 11 (Jenna Evertz).

CK - Bigfork 5, Polson 6.

Fouls - Bigfork 2, Polson 4.

Red Card - Polson (Amber Clarke) hand ball.

LP indiv sog - Duford 7, Linnea Madsen 5, Howell 4, Mayorga 2, JaNessa Taylor 1.

SCS 8, MVCA 1

Despite being depleted by injuries, the host Lady Sting of Mission Valley Christian Academy battled valiantly against the visiting Stillwater Christian School Lady Cougars in Polsonl on Tuesday the 16th.   Ellie Maddy notched a goal to put the Lady Sting on the scoreboard.  The Lady Sting (2-1-0) will travel to Stillwater on Saturday, Oct. 2.  

MVCA        0   1   -   1

Stillwater  5   3   -   8

SCS - Serena Koch 1, 4, 12

SCS - Kate Martin 10, 47

SCS - Sheyanne Collom 26, 57

SCS - Amanda Gerard 49:00

MVCA - Ellie Maddy (unasst) 69

SOG - MCVA 6, SCS 24.

Saves - MVCA 11, SCS 5.

Corner Kicks - MVCA 0, SCS 6.

Polson JV 6, Ham JV 2

In Polson on Saturday, Sept. 20th, the Lady Pirate JV bested the visiting Hamilton Lady Bronc JV by the score of 6-2.

P - Dayne Smith

(a Jenna Evertz ck) 7:00

P - Marina Mayorga (a Evertz ck) 20

P - Olivia Hewston (unasst) 27:00

H - Lyric DeVries  43:00, 47:00

P - Mayorga (unasst) 50:00

P - T.Duford (Mayorga) 51:00

P - Hewston (unasst) 58:00

SOG - Ham 4, Polson 21

Sv - Hamilton 13, Polson 2 (Camas Renault)

CK - Hamilton 0, Polson 4.

Fouls - Hamilton 0, Polson 4.

PREP BOYS SOCCER

Polson 2, Whitefish 2

At Whitefish on Tuesday Sept. 16th, the Pirates scored first when Alex Helgeson intercepted a Whitefish pass just inside midfield and launched a shot that lofted over the head of the Whitefish keeper who had come out away from the goal, clearing his reach and bounded into the net.  Whitefish countered with two scores from Shanoah Montano despite the Pirates marking him throughout the game.  Mike “the Mechanic” Mercer tied the game up in the final minute of the first half on a free kick after being fouled about 30 yards out from the goal, placing enough velocity on his blast to tally the equalizer despite the efforts of the Bulldog keeper who got a glancing mitt on the ball before it went into the net.  The only other tie forged with Whitefish traces back to a scoreless draw during the 2009 season.

Polson     2  0  –  2

Whitefish  2  0  –  2

P - Alex Helgeson (unasst) 17:00

W - S.Montano (a J.Johnson) 38

W - Montano (a Q. Joos) 39

P - Mike Mercer 40:00 (free kick)

SOG - Polson 4, Whitefish 8

aves - Polson 6 (Trevor Basler), Whitefish 2 (Sam Benkelman).

CK -  Polson 2, Whitefish 6.

Fouls - Polson 13, Whitefish 12

(Wf variants - sog P2, sv P8, ck P1W5, f P13W9)

Bigfork blanks Bucs

Bigfork 2, Polson 0

At Polson on homecoming, the host Pirates valiantly attempted to vanquish the visiting Vikings, but one of their more dangerous weapons broke out of the containment corral twice to cause all the damage that was needed in this Northern A conference clash.

Vike all-state, twice all-conference Kyle Thomson tallied in each half to account for Bigfork scoring, narrowly edging his way past a Pirate defender to put Bigfork in the lead with his first goal midway through first half. Thomson notched his second salvo with a header that redirected the trajectory of a kick lofted in front of the goal by all-conference Tyler Zavala, who was credited with the well placed assist.

Polson held the edge over Bigfork in shots on frame 9-8, but both keepers played significant roles in holding down further scoring.  Viking keeper Ben Russell neutralized several attempts that held promise for the Pirates, while his Polson counterpart Trevor Basler made a couple of spectacular saves to keep his Pirate mates within striking range. A pair of the more promising Pirate punches came from the feet of twice all-conference midfielder Alex “Lucky” Helgeson and Mike “the Mechanic” Mercer.  Helgeson made a run deep into the box within point blank range of the Vike goalkeep at about the 57 minute mark, but Russell was able to pounce on the launch to eliminate that threat.  Later into the second half, Mercer unloaded a zinger at about the final 2 minute juncture, but again the Bigfork goalkeep was able of wrap his gloves around that  ball before it could boisterously bounce past him.  Polson (0-1-1, 0-4-1) will be in Columbia Falls this Thursday to face the Wildcats, then host Libby on Saturday in the post noon game, closing out the last day of the month on Tuesday as they host visiting Corvallis.

Bigfork 1 1 – 2

Polson  0 0 – 0

B - Kyle Thomson (unasst) 23

B - Thomson (Tyler Zavala) 51

SOG - Bigfork 8, Polson 9.

Saves - Bigfork 9 (Ben Russell), Polson 6 (Trevor Basler).

CK - Bigfork 3, Polson 0.

Fouls - Bigfork 10, Polson 14.

Yellow Cards - B2 (Carson Cantrell, Shane Rieke), P1 (coach Jess Kittle).

indiv sog - Helgeson 4, Mercer 3, Andrew Hanson 2, Michael Vergeront.

misc shot att - Jonah Kasnitz (wide R, blk by def), Hanson 2 (blk by def, wide R), Morgan Moll (dribbler), Linde Lambson (wide R), free kicks 4 (blk)

MVCA 5, SCSJV 1

At Polson on Tuesday the 17th, the Mission Valley Christian Academy Sting rallied in the second half from a one goal deficit to down the visiting Stillwater Christian School Cougars junior varsity squad.  Jake Windauer turned a hat trick, while brother Nick Windauer scored a brace.  Each contributed assists to the other with the exception of the equalizer in the second half which came off a penalty kick.  The MVCA Sting (2-0-1) boys team travel to Helena this Saturday the 27th to engage the Helena Christian Rams.

MVCA   0   5   -   5

SCSJV  1   0   -   1

SCSJV - J. Hembroff (unasst)

MVCA - Nick Windauer (PK).

MVCA g2,g3,g4 - Jake Windauer (a N. Windauer).

MVCA - N. Windauer (a. J. Windauer).

SOG - MVCA na, SCSJV na

Saves - MVCA na (Dayton Conrad), SCSJV na (na).  CK - na

Polson JV 3, Ham JV 1

At Polson on Saturday, Sept. 20th, the Pirate JV soccer squad bested the visiting Hamilton junior varsity.

gP1 - Mike Mercer

gP2 - Alexis Guerrero-Vaca

gP3 - Alexis Guerrero-Vaca

PREP COED SOCCER

1st MVCA Inv CoEd Soc Trny

Sat. 20Sep14 at Polson

Championship -

Summit Prep (Kalispell) 3,

Mission Valley CA            1

gMVCA - Andrew Lichte

Consolation -

Montana Acad. (Marion) 6,

Eureka Soccer Club           0