Lady Pirates prepare for Billings Central

HAMILTON — The Polson Lady Pirates’ soccer team defeated Hamilton 4-2 Saturday at Hamilton High School to set up a showdown with the No. 1-ranked team in the Class A state quarterfinals Saturday at 11 a.m. at Polson High School soccer stadium.

The Lady Pirates, a team that has traditionally struggled against Billings Central, will have a “tremendous advantage” to hosting as opposed to taking a 7-hour bus ride to Billings Central’s home field.

“Playing a home game is a dream, it’s a present, it’s a gift and all of those things,” Lady Pirates’ Coach Michael Hewston said. “I imagine Billings Central will travel on Friday and stay the night of the playoff game. Being the kind of school they are, they can do that because their students don’t have to have ‘x’ number of days in school.”

In the past, Hewston has admitted to taking a conservative approach to playing Billings Central.

Not this time. Hewston said he is going to “let his team loose.”

“In the past with Billings Central, we have played a defensive roll, and they have a reputation for destroying people,” Hewston said. “We are going to go at them and take it right to them. I am not going to stack the defense. We are just going to go straight at them and I am sure they are going to go straight at us.”

Hewston said it will be “important” for his Lady Pirates to come out and score a couple of goals to establish the team’s early momentum.

“We’ve got to get a goal or two early in the game,” Hewston said.

According to Hewston, in order for the Lady Pirates to have a chance against Billings, they will have to apply lots of “pressure.”

“(In the first match) we had that defensive mid in front on defense, four mid-fielders and one striker unsuccessfully moved the ball up to that striker,” Hewston said. “They move the ball freely from side-to-side and have one striker up there. We modified our formation run with a 4-3-3. They will try to take that left to right swing and put a little more pressure on them. Most teams that move the ball well don’t necessarily move the ball well under pressure. We have to apply pressure at every opportunity and switch up the formation so Tiara Duford, Ashley Howell, Amber Clarke, and Marina Mayorga have the tools to do their job.”

Hewston said he felt if you let Billings Central’s three-dimensional team attack, you’ll “lose.”

“At no time can we let Billings do what they want to do,” Hewston said. “If you don’t give them that pressure and you play a defensive role, they will knock you out. Our biggest thing is that we are going to switch up our formation and we are going to have to go at them to mess up their flow.”

Hewston said he compared the rhythm of a soccer game to the rhythm of a basketball game.

“Basketball is the closest comparison to soccer and it’s all about the flow of the game,” Hewston said. “Boom! Boom! Boom! When your opponent gets into the flow of the game, good things start happening. Teams like Billings Central, Hamilton, and Whitefish are good teams that all have the ability to produce that flow. You have to get yourself and your own team into it or mess up that flow, and they do it with pressure.”

In the first meeting against The Lady Rams, the Lady Pirates, slowed down by the 7-hour bus trip, were able to get only four shots on goal in the first half. After making second half adjustments, they shot 15.

“In the last game, I took really good notes about how they move the ball and adjusted,” Hewston said. “We adjusted well in the second half and were able to get 15 shots on goal because shooting only four shots on goal is very uncharacteristic of us. We just need to switch up the formation and get the tools (to score) back in the hands of our girls.”