Lady Dogs look to finish strong
Olivia Pothoff with a scoring shot in the first half. (Chris Peterson/Hungry Horse News)
The Whitefish girls soccer team is looking for two big wins heading into their matches this week.
Last week the Lady Dogs dropped a rematch with conference-leader Columbia Falls 5-3 before taking down Libby in a blowout 9-1 win.
Head coach Roland Benedict said fatigue for the short-handed team played a role against the Wildkats.
“We have such a small roster that the majority of our varsity players besides our seniors play junior varsity, so the girls truly did play four games in five days,” Benedict said. “We were a little tired, to be honest, but we played them well. We had a 10-minute stretch where we conceded three goals. We made a few mistakes and they punished us.”
The match was tied 2-2 at half thanks to a pair of goals from Olivia Potthoff. Columbia Falls added three goals to Whitefish’s one in the second half to take the victory. Audrey Hyatt scored in the 78th minute for the Lady Dogs.
The girls got back at it on Saturday against Libby.
Anna Cook netted five goals in the blowout. Potthoff, Ali Hirsch and Abigail Shaffer added to the scoring.
“We worked on a few things between those games,” Benedict said. “It was kind of unfortunate for Libby because our team was a little angry about losing. They caught us at a time when we were really fresh and hungry to play some good soccer.”
This week Whitefish hosts Polson on Thursday as part of “homecoming part two” before taking on Bigfork Saturday. The original homecoming matchup against Bigfork was rescheduled due to cyber-threats made to area schools.
Saturday’s game will also be senior night. Seniors on the team include Hyatt, Lexie Carbo, Kellie Brown, Grace Scrafford, Pixie Moore and Emma Binstein.
“We’re trying to get two big wins, we’ve got senior night and homecoming,” Benedict said. “I think finally, as the season has progressed the girls have become comfortable with their new roles, and I believe were going to start peaking at the right time.”
Whitefish 2 1 — 3
Columbia Falls 2 3 — 5
CF — Hannah Callender (Josie Windauer), 6:00
W — Olivia Pothoff (Anna Cook), 8:00
W — Pothoff (Thea Vrentas), 18:00
CF — Hannah Gedlaman (Kaylee Ashe), 22:00
CF — Windauer (Callender), 59:00
CF — Lakia Hill (Windauer), 62:00
CF — Hill (Ashe), 69:00
W — Audrey Hyatt, 78:00
Shots on goal — Whitefish 14, Columbia Falls 18; Corner kicks — Whitefish 3, Columbia Falls 4; Goalie saves — Whitefish 13 (Sami Galbraith), Columbia Falls 11 (Madeline Jarvis); Fouls — Whitefish 9, Columbia Falls 11; Cards — Whitefish, 1 yellow.
Whitefish 3 6 — 9
Libby 0 1 — 1
W — Anna Cook, 18:00
W — Olivia Pothoff (Cook), 19:00
W — Cook (Grace Scrafford), 25:00
W — Cook (Grace Benkelman), 44:00
W — Ali Hirsch (Pothoff), 52:00
W — Cook, 53:00
L — NA, 68:00
W — Cook (Audrey Hyatt), 71:00
W — Own goal, 72:00
W — Abigail Shaffer (Pixie Moore), 78:00
Shot on goal — Whitefish 35, Libby 2; Corner kicks — Whitefish 3, Libby 3; Goalie saves — Whitefish 2 (Sami Galbraith), Libby 26 (NA); Fouls — Whitefish 4, Libby 3; Cards — None.