Lady Dogs flood Pirates at the net
Grace Benkelman fires a shot during Tuesday’s 7-2 win over Polson. (Daniel McKay/Whitefish Pilot)
Emma Barron fights her way through the Polson defense last week at Smith Fields. (Daniel McKay/Whitefish Pilot)
Taylor Gentry attacks the Polson goal last week at Smith Fields. (Daniel McKay/Whitefish Pilot)
Anna Cook fires a shot against Polson last week at Smith Fields. (Daniel McKay/Whitefish Pilot)
Anna Cook notched a hat trick en route to the Lady Dogs’ highest scoring match of the season, a 7-2 beatdown of Polson, last week.
Cook opened the scoring with a goal in the fifth minute and followed that up 20 minutes later with her second score. Both goals were assisted by Grace Benkelman.
She nailed her third goal in the 50th minute, assisted by Ali Hirsch.
Polson got on the board early as well, with Sophi Moderi scoring in the 14th minute to tie the game at 1-1.
That tie didn’t last, however, as Josie Schneider found the net just a minute later. The Lady Dogs scored three unanswered goals after that to go up 5-1 before Moderi found the net again in the 53rd minute.
Taylor Gentry, Sophie Olson and Sofie Saurey poured in the rest of Whitefish’s goals.
The Lady Dogs barraged the Polson keeper with 28 shots on goal, compared to the Pirates’ 4. Keeper Sami Galbraith had 5 saves for Whitefish, while Polson’s keeper had 16.
Head coach Roland Benedict said he’s been wanting his girls to play more aggressively, and 7 goals against a conference opponent was a move in the right direction.
“We played well. We’re still finding our attacking feet and learning a bit about the way we want to go forward,” he said. “I thought we turned a corner there, but we’re still trying to improve.”
Then on Saturday the team faced off against Corvallis down in the Bitterroot, coming away with a 1-0 win.
Maya Lacey scored the lone goal in the 26th minute.
Benedict says the score doesn’t tell the whole story.
“We had 16 shots on target in the first half and scored one,” Benedict said. “We dominated in possession and had the ball the majority of the time. We created a lot of chances, and we scored on our most difficult chance. It’s a good problem to have, you’re getting there, you just can’t get the ball in the back of the net.”
In total, Whitefish had 24 shots on goal, compared to Corvallis’ nine. Galbraith saved all nine of those shots for Whitefish.
This week is an easier one for the Lady Dogs, especially after a hectic last few weeks. The team doesn’t have a game until their homecoming showdown against Libby, which starts at noon on Saturday at Smith Fields.
Benedict said the focus is honing more of their aggressive play, as well as recovering before battling the Loggers.
“Creating a relaxing environment where we can focus on the training pitch,” he said. “We’ve been pretty banged up and sick, so it’ll be a good time to recover and get in the right state of mind and get ready to go all out against Libby. It’s very fortunate timing, especially going into a game against a conference opponent but also in a homecoming environment.”
Polson 1 1 — 2
Whitefish 4 3 — 7
W — Anna Cook (Grace Benkelman) 5:00
P — Sophia Moderi 14:00
W — Josie Schneider (Sophie Olson) 15:00
W — Cook (Benkelman) 25:00
W — Sofie Saurey 38:00
W — Cook (Ali Hirsch) 50:00
P — Moderi 53:00
W— Taylor Gentry 59:00
W —Olson (Maya Lacey) 61:00
Shots on goal — Polson 4, Whitefish 28; Goalie saves — Polson 16 Whitefish 5; Corner kicks — Polson 1, Whitefish 1; Fouls — Polson 3 Whitefish 6; Cards — None.
Whitefish 1 0 — 1
Corvallis 0 0 — 0
W — Maya Lacey 26:00
Shots on goal — Whitefish 24, Corvallis 9; Goalie saves — Whitefish 9, Corvallis 23; Corner kicks — Whitefish 5, Corvallis 0; Fouls — Whitefish 7, Corvallis 6; Cards — Whitefish 1 (yellow).