(By John Heglie)
At Polson, the host Lady Pirate seniors on Senior Day scored a pair of goals as well as turned in a pair of assists, while a freshman phenom supplemented their efforts by turning a hat trick in a 5-0 Polson victory over Libby on Saturday.
Two-time all-conference senior midfielder Madeline Hewston chipped in a shot from about the 25 yard line into the net to stake her team with a 1-0 lead. The Lady Loggers would counter with a shot from senior midfielder Jenny Johnson , who launched a strike at Polson keeper Monica Cleveland within the same minute.
Cleveland was able to deflect the ball, then gather it in to deny a scoring opportunity. At about the ten minute mark, one of the Libby players was able to get a strong tap that rolled past the Polson keeper who lost her footing on the wet turf attempting to reel it in, but Polson’s Annie Venters was positioned well enough to intercept the would-have-been goal and deflected it off to the sideline.
Less than ten minutes later, Polson’s Hewston launched another rocket at Libby keeper Rebecca Kyriss, who was able to deflect it off her hands away from the goal. Unfortunately for them, frosh striker Sarah Howell was right there to mop up anything that might spill, punching the deflection into the net for another Polson score. At the 27 minute mark, senior striker Annie Venters launched a rocket at the Libby keeper, who was able to knock it down and put it away to deny the score.
Venters got another opportunity ten minutes later, only this time she made sure she spread a little more mustard on her shot for Polson’s third score of the afternoon.
The Lady Loggers must have made some adjustments during intermission, for they were able to formulate more attacks on the Polson side of the field during the second half. However, the Lady Pirates would continue chipping away. Having traded in her homecoming candidate formal attire the night before, senior defender/striker Makenzie Wegner fired a missle about a minute into the second half that was just blocked by the Libby keeper to keep it out of the net. Teammate Howell had a pair of scoring opportunities in the first ten minutes of the second half, the latter caroming off the goalpost at the 48 minute mark. Libby had two good scoring opportunities midway through the second half.
Sophomore striker Sarah Nash had a solid shot at the Polson goal at the 60 minute mark, but the Polson keeper was able to knock it down and gather it in before any further damage might ensue. Five minutes later, freshman defensive back took a strong shot from the side of the Polson goal, but was unable to capitalize on a curl or a deflection off one of her teammmates.
Polson’s Howell, however, would hit pay dirt twice more in the final ten minutes of the contest. Her second score came off an assist from Hewston. Her final tally came off an assist from Venters, who had relayed the ball from a pass that came from Wegner to close out the scoring.
Other Lady Pirates who took shots at the goal included a handful by senior midfielder Brynn Rowley, supplemented by solo or dual shots coming from Keely Clairmont, Tatyonna Fisher and Linnea Madsen. Polson (5-7-0, 4-4-0) takes the third seed into the playoffs and will face Hamilton next weekend. Libby finishes their season 0-10-2 overall with both ties coming from their conference matchup with Bigfork
Libby - 0 - 0 - 0
Polson - 3 - 2 - 5
Polson – Madeline Hewston, 8:00
Polson – Sarah Howell, 15:00
Polson – Annie Venters, 38:00
Polson – Howell (Hewston), 61:00
Polson – Howell (Venters), 65:00
Shots – Libby 8, Polson 36. Saves – Libby 24 (Rebecca Kyriss), Polson 10 (Monica Cleveland). Corner kicks – Libby 3, Polson 10. Total fouls – Libby 4, Polson 5. Yellow cards – none. Red cards – none
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