Polson boys win conference title: Girls lose heartbreaker to Whitefish in Tuesday night play-in games
On Tuesday, the Polson Lady Pirates hosted Whitefish for a playoff game. Leading up to that game were two others that put the Pirates into the second seed of the Northern conference.
Polson 6 Libby 1
At Polson on senior night last Tuesday, the host Lady Pirates had numerous opportunities to take a lead before intermission, but the Lady Logger defense repelled each effort. The Lady Pirates unleashed point blank blasts by Tiara Duford, Sarah Howell, JaNessa Taylor, Hannah Hobbs, Sophia Sisler and a frontal lobe header by Marina Mayorga which the Libby goalkeeper either deflected away or gathered in to negate any reboots of ricochets for second chances. Libby would score on a textbook direct kick that arced its way over the defending Polson keeper for their lone score before the half.
The Lady Pirates made adjustments to their offensive strategy by working the angles better in the second half with the result that yielded a half dozen goals. Howell played the part of the perfect hostess by setting the table on a quartet of placement arrangements. Duford netted her fourth hat trick or better of the season, Mayorga scored a brace and Taylor lofted one over the reach of the keeper for her seventh goal of the season. Senior Brenna Clarke exemplified a Pirate interpretation for hospitality by practically possessing the midfield, relaying the ball forward for Polson players to pummel at the visitor’s goal. Also honored among the senior send-off were manager Sheridan Houle and reserve Amaya Poole.
Columbia Falls 3 Polson 1
At Columbia Falls this past Thursday, the visiting Lady Pirates and the host WildKats would battle it out in a contest for a crucial edge in the standings with conference crown implications. In a reversal of roles from the game played at Polson a few weeks prior, the Kats would take a 2-0 lead in the first half with the Lady Pirates relegated to the role of playing ‘catch me if you can.’
Polson scored their lone goal when Olivia Hewston lofted a direct kick toward the Kat portion of the pitch which Marina Mayorga intercepted and relayed to Ashlee Howell, who set the table for Tiara Duford to boot into the back of the net to cut the lead in half.
During the final minutes, the Lady Pirates attempted a last ditch surge to net the equalizer, put it backfired when the Kats netted a insurance goal.
With the loss, Polson (6-2, 9-3) secured the second seed in the Northern A conference for the second year in a row and hosted the visiting Whitefish Lady Bulldogs in a play-in contest with the winner advancing into the first round of the playoffs against (2S) Frenchtown (7-3) on Saturday.
WHITEFISH 2 Polson 1
At Polson on Tuesday for the Northern A play-in match to decide who would advance to the next round, the host Lady Pirates and the visiting Lady Bulldogs battled through the first half of play to a scoreless tie. Both teams had a handful of chances to take the lead. Seven minutes into the contest, Lady Bulldog Haley Nicholson lofted a long punt at the Polson goal, forcing keeper Jenna Evertz to intervene. A handful of seconds later, Lady Pirate Tiara Duford split her defenders after an Olivia Hewston free kick, but the ball would carry over the crossbar.
Both teams continued to joust and parry at the defense of the other, but both keepers were able to intervene where defenders were unable to disrupt penetration. For Polson, shots taken by Duford, JaNessa Taylor, Marina Mayorga and the direct kicks of Hewston initially held promise, but did not yield the fruit of their labors. Toward the end of the first half, a corner kick by Whitefish forward Nikita Packard held the most promising potential, but Polson keeper Evertz intercepted it before it could became problematic. Polson held the edge in time spent making forays into Whitefish real estate during the first half of play.
Once the second half got underway, the pace quickened for both teams. Polson’s Mayorga lofted a direct kick toward the defending Whitefish keeper Kess Nelson which a defender partially header blocked and Nelson deflected into the crossbar. Minutes later at the other end of the field, Katie Blankenship launched a mega shot at the Polson goal, forcing Pirate keeper Evertz to make a diving save.
Eventually a two minute span arrived in which all the scoring would take place.
Polson would strike first on a penalty kick awarded for an inadvertent handball within the 18 yard box. Mayorga would bury it past the keeper to give Polson a 1-0 advantage. But there would be little time to celebrate or rest on any laurels, for within the frame of the next minute, Nicholson would streak by her defenders after a well placed through ball kicked by Blankenship and would finish with the equalizer to tie the game at one apiece.
Within the span of barely a minute of elapsed time, Nicholson would strike yet again with eerie similarity to the preceding scenario, this time tracking down a well placed through ball from Julia Houston.
A disappointed Coach Michael Hewston said after the game, “We had a great season, but it just didn’t work out for us in the end.” The Lady Pirates finish 9-4 with the second best record in the history of their program and graduate only one senior in Brenna Clarke. Look on page B6 for complete boys soccer coverage.
Tuesday 10/6
Libby 1 0 – 1
Polson 0 6 – 6
L – g Anna Carlson (direct kick) 10’
P – g Tiara Duford (a Ashlee Howell) 42’
P – g Marina Mayorga (a Duford) 53’
P – g JaNessa Taylor (a Brenna Clarke) 57’
P – g Duford (a Howell) 73’
P – g Duford (a Howell) 75’
P – g Mayorga (a Howell) 77’
SHOTS(on goal) – Libby 5, Polson 39(27)
SAVES – Libby 20 (Shannon Reny 17, Allie Coldwell 3), Polson 4 (Ashley Benson).
CORNER KICKS – Libby 1, Polson 4.
FOULS – Libby 2, Polson 3. CARDS – None.
LPindivSH (sog) –Duford 10 (sog1’,26’,27’,56’,76’; sog24’GKblk; sog43’GKdefloffxbar; sog51’,64’def away; over17’; xmiss2’,14’54’), Mayorga (sog44’,75’; soghdr39’; sogdk51’; wide31’,52’), Howell 3 (sog7’GKdefl, sog24’defdefl, sog77’), Taylor (sog62’; sog16’,47’defdefl; over16’; wide66’), Hannah Hobbs 3 (sog27’, wide19’, over24’), Sophia Sisler (sog22’, wide47’), Hannah Kasnitz 2 (sog59’, soghdr65’over), Brenna Clarke (wide32’), Kiana Snyder (wide68’), Alana Fox (sog61’). statdatavariant P43sh
Thursday 10/8
Polson 0 1 – 1
C Falls 2 1 – 3
CF – g Tavia Bechtel (a Ashley Miller ck) 6’
CF – g Bechtel (pk) 29’
P – g Tiara Duford (a1 Ashlee Howell, a2 Marina Mayorga, dk Olivia Hewston) 51’
CF – g Ellie Johnson (a Miller) 79’
SHOTS(on goal) – Polson 8, C.Falls 12
SAVES – Polson 7 (Jenna Evertz), CF 6 (Allyson Gimbel);
CORNER KICKS – Polson 2, CF 3;
FOULS – P7, CF7. CARDS – None.
LPindivSH(sog) – Duford 7, JaNessa Taylor 5, Ashlee Howell 2, Olivia Hewston 3, Hannah Kasnitz, Amber Clarke, Marina Mayorga, Kiana Snyder (Pvariant 18sh)
Tuesday 10/13
Whitefish 0 2 – 2
Polson 0 1 – 1
P – g Marina Mayorga (pk) 66’
W – g Haley Nicholson (a Katie Blankenship) 67’
W – g Nicholson (a Julia Houston) 68’
SHOTS(on goal) – Wf 8, Pol 15(12)
SAVES – Whitefish 9 (Kess Nelson), Polson 6 (Jenna Evertz)
CORNERS – Whitefish 4, Polson 2
FOULS – W5, P2. CARDS – none.
(stat variant W5sh)