Lady Dogs cap season with a pair of shutouts

The Whitefish girls pitched two shutouts against Polson and Bigfork to close the season.

The Lady Dogs took down Polson 2-0 on Thursday before dominating Bigfork 5-0 on Saturday.

“We started forcusing a little more on our defensive shape and our backline,” head coach Roland Benedict said. “It really helped us out.”

Now it’s playoff time.

As of press time, Laurel and Belgrade were set to battle it out in a play-in match on Tuesday. Whitefish will play the winner of that match.

The Lady Dogs met both teams early in the season, falling 4-2 to Laurel and 3-0 to Belgrade.

However, this team has come a long way since those games, Benedict said.

“Both of those games were early in the season, and they’re two of the best teams we’ve played all year. We were still workin on new systems and new roles for our players,” he said. “They’re definitely teams we can beat.”

Whitefish will play against one of the two teams on Saturday, away from home. Gametime will be announced once the play-in match has concluded.

This week, Benedict said, it’s back to basics.

If the Lady Dogs can play their style of soccer and limit mistakes, they’ve got a chance.

“It’ll come down to limiting mistakes for both teams and us capitalizing on anything they give us,” Benedict said.

Polson 0 0 — 0

Whitefish 2 0 — 2

W — Anna Cook (Audrey Hyatt), 5:00

W — Ali Hirsch, 33:00

Shots on goal — Polson 7, Whitefish 16; Corner kicks — Polson 1, Whitefish 0; Goalie saves — Polson 10 (Megan Rost), Whitefish 6 (Sami Galbraith); Fouls — Polson 6, Whitefish 13; Cards — Whitefish, 2 yellow

Bigfork 0 0 — 0

Whitefish 1 4 — 5

W — Anna Cook (Grace Scrafford), 5:00

W — Cook (Audrey Hyatt), 55:00

W — Josephine Brown (Pixie Moore), 65:00

W — Ali Hirsch, 66:00

W — Moore (Scrafford), 78:00

Shots — Bigfork 3, Whitefish 21; Saves — Bigfork 9 (NA), Whitefish 3 (Sami Galbraith)