Polson girls shore up midfield and pinch Park in second half of

loss

POLSON - Polson was looking at a 5-1 deficit at halftime after Park found some quick scoring oppourtunities and had scored in brief lapses. However, in the second half, it was a different story for the Lady Pirates last Saturday.

"We had some issues that we corrected at halftime," Polson head coach Mike Hewston said. "I think we all but stopped the bleeding."

The Lady Pirates and Park battled and scored a goal apiece in the second half, and had the first half not been s

sluggish, things may have had a different outcome.

"I think we have all the parts we need," Hewston said of his team. "We just need to figure out where each of those parts go."

The midfield was a point of contention in their game against Park. The Lady Rangers scored in the 11th and 12 minutes before Polson's Sarah Howell put the ball in the net thanks to an assist by Medline Hewston in the 14th minute.

Freshman Howell and fellow freshman forward Linnea Madsen showed plenty of promise in the early season.

"They played extremely well together," Hewston said. "They're matching up against a lot older players than them. I'd like to see more shots out of them but they're already big assets to the team."

Park scored four unanswered goals to take a 6-1 lead after the 48th minute of the game, but Polson was consistent after that and a well-shot ball by Annie Venters found the perfect spot and bounced down behind the goal line and goalie in the 74th minute.

"Venters is a happy team-player who brings skill and read to the game," Hewston said. "In addition to her goal, she played with hustle and intelligent play."

Sarah Robinson also showed herself to be very capable in the midfield for the Lady Pirates again this year.

"This is her first year really of playing in the field," Hewston said. "She was the backup goalie last year, played one game in the field against Bigfork and got a goal. Midfield is the toughest position to play because there's a lot of running, but I cannot say enough good things about Sarah."

Another played that stood out on the field was defender MaKenzie Wegner.

"Her read on the ball and her skills around the ball make her an asset," Hewston said.

In their upcoming games, Hewston said he would like to see more urgency and hustle.

And if the second half of the Park game was any indication, the Lady Pirates should be up to the challenge.

John Heglie contributed to this article.