Bitterroot trip a success on field for Lady Dogs
Whitefish girls soccer had a tale of two games last week, and the difference didn’t come on the scoreboard.
At the Hamilton-hosted round robin kickoff weekend, Whitefish played once on a turf field and once on a field with long, dry grass. The difference in surfaces was a difficult adjustment from playing Hamilton on Friday to playing Corvallis Saturday, according to head coach Roland Benedict.
“You go from a slow field to a really fast field and it kind of messes with you,” he said.
But nevertheless, the girls came away with two major wins to improve their season record to 3-0. Whitefish took down Hamilton 8-2 and also beat Corvallis 6-0 over the weekend.
“We got two wins and we scored 14 goals between the two games, so you can’t really say that the field change was too much of an issue,” Benedict joked.
Against Hamilton Whitefish scored three goals in the first half, but also had a bit of a hiccup defensively as they allowed two goals. Though in the second half they settled in and adjusted their play to work with the slower field, and put in five more goals.
In the game Sophie Olson scored twice, Emma Barron added two goals and Maeve Ingelfinger, Anna Akey, Sadie Olson and Brooke Roberts all scored one goal each. Roberts led the team in assists with two. Whitefish had 21 shots on goal, and on the other hand Whitefish keeper Norah Schmidt made eight saves.
“It (allowing two goals) was nothing that as a coaching staff we were concerned with,” Benedict said. “We scored three goals in the first half fairly easily and once we got used to the field it ended up being 5-0 in the second half. It was a good result for the gals against Hamilton.”
The next day Whitefish faced Corvallis, instead on the fast-playing turf field in Hamilton.
The Bulldogs scored three goals in each half and stayed perfect on their own end with Schmidt and the defense delivering the shutout. Sophie Olson scored the first goal and then assisted on two goals; Emma Barron had two goals and two assists; and Isabelle Cooke, Roberts and Akey all scored as well. Whitefish out-shot Corvallis 22-7 in the game.
Benedict was most impressed with the senior holding midfielder, Akey, due to her control of the ball and the pace of the game.
“Anna Akey put on an absolute master class in the center of the field as a central midfielder,” Benedict expressed. “She didn’t make a mistake, controlled the tempo, stopped every attack from happening; everything went through her feet and she really dominated the game in every facet.”
The Lady Bulldogs look to continue their success this week. The girls were set to take on Polson at Smith Fields on Tuesday after press time, then will travel to Libby on Thursday.
Whitefish 3 5 — 8
Hamilton 2 0 — 2
Goals
Sophie Olson- 2
Emma Barron- 2
Maeve Ingelfinger- 1
Anna Akey- 1
Sadie Olson- 1
Brooke Robert- 1
Assists
Brooke Roberts- 2
Isabelle Cooke- 1
Lucy Lowry- 1
Olivia Genovese- 1
Shots on goal — WF 21, Hamilton 6. Goalie saves — WF 8, Hamilton 15. Corner kicks — WF 10, Hamilton 3.
Whitefish 3 3 — 6
Corvallis 0 0 — 0
W — Sophie Olson (Emma Barron)
W — Barron (Olson)
W — Isabelle Cooke (Sofie Saurey)
W — Brooke Roberts (Olson)
W — Anna Akey (Barron)
W — Barron (Olivia Genovese)
Shots on goal — Whitefish 22, Corvallis 7. Goalie saves — Whitefish 5 (Norah Schmidt), Corvallis 17 (Kenzie Gross). Corner kicks — Whitefish 5, Corvallis 2.