Pirates fall to Central, Laurel

The Polson Pirates boys, girls soccer program experienced set backs as a bi-product of the wild fires.

The games with Laurel and Billings Central were originally scheduled to be in Polson transferred to Laurel and Billings Central. After the game with Laurel, the soccer teams stayed over night and played Billings Central Saturday in Billings.

“To be honest with you, it was not ideal and we didn’t get outside to practice all week but went on the road unexpectedly,” Pirates’ coach Adam Fansher said. “We played a game on the turf field on a pretty hot day. Our team really tried to play well. Honestly, we didn’t play well against Laurel.”

The Pirates struggled to defend Luis Vega, who scored three goals against Polson in their 4-2 loss to Laurel

“He is probably one of the top players in the state and he scored three goals in that game,” Fansher said. “We had a chance to win (the game) all of the way through and we were a little bit unlucky to come up with the result but we were just happy to play on the field.”

Polson had an opportunity to win the entire game but Laurel was able to dictate the tempo of the game, Fansher said

“Laurel did what they wanted to do,” Fansher said. “Playing on that turf is probably their biggest home field advantage in the whole state and it took us a whole half to adjust to playing on the turf.”

Pirate soccer player Bridger Wenzel scored both of the team’s goals. Assisting Wenzel in the goals was Davis Smith and Robin Erickson.

Polson 0, Billings Central 0

After playing Laurel, Polson stayed over night to play Billings Central on Saturday.

Polson and Billings Central played each other to a stalemate as neither of them scored in a 0-0 tie Saturday night at Billings Central.

“We’ve played them every time since I’ve been a coach and they are a traditional power in the east,” Fansher said. “They are a well-coached team and have a really strong program. I was happy that we played that game and played it on grass on a nice field. The boys did much better after we settled in.”

Goalie Xavier Stalkfleet made a couple of big saves and Conner Lanier had a big game despite not being able to generate a goal.

Currently, the Pirates (2-1-1) are in a good position as they prepare to head into more meaningful conference games.

“He was really good for us that game and kept us held down,” Fansher said. “We were all over the field and they played us tough. I was really happy with the nice experience from our team and a good performance that made me feel a lot better on the trip. We got a chance to play some really tough competition and our first three conference games will be on the road in some difficult environments.”

Polson will travel to play Columbia Falls, Bigfork and Libby all on the road. They will begin their conference schedule playing against Libby Thursday afternoon at Libby, Saturday at Columbia Falls and Tuesday against Big Fork.

The trip to Libby is close to a 300-mile round trip.

“It is a long trip to Libby Thursday night and it’s a tough place to play,” Fansher said. “They have a nice home field advantage there and have always done well since I’ve been the coach. The field is narrow and the fans are really good. It makes it a tough place to play.”

As the Pirates prepare to head into conference play, Fansher said he is “happy” they are all healthy headed into the season.

“We are just excited to have our full group back together for conference play,” Fansher said. That is a luxery headed into conference play.”