Lady Bulldog soccer notches two more wins

With a pair of stellar performances, Whitefish girls soccer tallied up two more wins last week and remain undefeated with one tie for the season.

First the girls knocked off conference foe Polson, 3-1, last Tuesday in what Whitefish coach Roland Benedict claims as his team’s “best total soccer performance” of the year thus far. Whitefish dominated possession time and outshot Polson 38-8, forcing the Lady Pirates’ keeper to make 20 saves.

The Bulldogs didn’t waste any time, notching two goals in the first half. The first score came from all-state midfielder Emma Barron off a feed from Sofie Olson. Then in the 32nd minute Brooke Roberts put Whitefish up 2-0, assisted by Maile Vine.

Shortly after halftime Polson’s Sophia Moderie got one back to cut the game to a one-goal lead. Finally in the 78th minute Barron found teammate Ali Hirsch who scored the final goal and sealed the game for the Bulldogs.

“I thought we played fantastic,” Benedict said. “Just the chances we created, the way we played within our system, especially in certain areas of the pitch that we hadn’t been very successful in. We were a little bit more ruthless and more efficient getting into those areas.”

Two days later Whitefish faced Stevensville for the second time this season. The Bulldogs played to a 0-0 draw at halftime before turning up the heat in the second half and netting two late goals to seal the victory.

In the match earlier this season Whitefish also won 2-0, but Benedict said that first game was an overall better showing from his team. On Thursday the Whitefish girls came out slow, before eventually finding their stride.

“In the first half of our second game (against Stevi), I think there was a little bit of a hangover from all of the energy and emotions going into the Columbia Falls win, and then responding by taking care of Polson which is another conference game,” Benedict said. “The energy was good and we were competing, but we weren’t really playing our style of football.”

Olson was the first to put Whitefish on the board when she scored in the 62nd minute. Only eight minutes later freshman midfielder Isabelle Cooke scored off a one-two pass combination with Olson. It was Cooke’s first goal as a Bulldog.

“As a freshman she’s played fantastic for us,” Benedict expressed. “She’s a top, top player. It’s not really her strong suit getting forward, but that is something she can do… And it was a big goal, it took us to two-nil which gave us more solidity in the game.”

This week the Bulldogs already defeated Bigfork 3-0 on Monday afternoon and were set to host Libby on Tuesday after press time. Then Saturday the Bulldogs will play a massively important homecoming game against Columbia Falls at Smith Fields. Benedict believes even with the early week back-to-back games, Whitefish will be ready.

“The big game for us is that Columbia Falls game, being as fresh as possible,” he said. “We took care of business at their stadium, now we’ve got to do it on our field. We’re in control of our own destiny then.”

The Whitefish girls host Columbia Falls at Smith Fields on Saturday, kickoff is at 1 p.m.

Polson 0 1 — 1

Whitefish 2 1 — 3

W - Emma Barron assisted by Sophie Olson at ‘20

W - Brooke Roberts assisted by Maile Vine at ‘32

P - Sophia Moderie assisted by Autumn Burland at ‘48

W - Ali Hirsch assisted by Emma Barron at ‘67

Shots on goal - Whitefish 38, Polson 8. Goalie saves - Whitefish 4 (Sami Gailbraith), Polson 20. Corner kicks - Whitefish 11, Polson 1.

Stevensville 0 0 — 0

Whitefish 0 2 — 2

W - Sophie Olson, 62:00

W - Isabelle Cook (Olson), 70:00

Shots on goal - Whitefish 18, Stevi 6. Goalie saves - Whitefish 6 (Norah Schmidt), Stevi 6 (Holly St. Germain). Corner kicks - Whitefish 8, Stevi 1. Fouls - Whitefish 5, Stevi 18. Cards - n/a.