Let’s hear it for the conservative, disciplined approach to soccer, it might just be a winning formula.

Playing the game that way, the Thompson Falls-Plains-St. Regis Hawks stymied and very nearly defeated a very good Bigfork team, losing only 2-1 to the Valkyries at Previs Field in Thompson Falls Tuesday.

Hawk coach Nick Lawyer described how his team played the game. “Even though we lost it feels like a tremendous win. Last year our girls lost to Bigfork over two games by a combined score of 19-1,” he said. “This time, we focused a lot on defensive solidarity, defending the top of the box, and working to deny Bigfork’s top goal scorer Peyton Gunlock.”

Lawyer put Gunlock on the spot by assigning Thompson Falls senior Solveig Nygaard the task of shadowing the Bigfork star (the current owner of the state record for goals scored), who had scored eight goals in one game against TF-P-SR last year. “Solveig was a thorn in the side of Peyton the whole game,” Lawyer said. “Peyton got quite frustrated and had a moment where she lashed out, striking Solveig in the chest, getting a yellow card and being removed from the game.”

Playing the game the defensive way very nearly produced the ultimate result for the Hawks against Bigfork. “Yes, a win is really what we wanted and we were very close,” he said. “Eight minutes to go and Bigfork scored twice, off of a free kick and then a corner. We just had so little gas left in the tank that we weren’t able to hold out for the win. But no fooling, it’s one of the best performances of a team I’ve ever coached.”

In addition to her outstanding performance in guarding Gunlock, Nygaard netted the Hawks’ only goal in the game with the Vals. Goaltender Ava Lawyer made six saves against the potent Bigfork attack.

Proud of his ladies’ efforts against Bigfork, Lawyer then guided his charges into a match at Whitefish Thursday. Basically running on empty that day, the Hawks fell to the Bulldogs 5-0. “It was rough, the girls had spent so much energy in the Bigfork game and had so much fatigue in their legs that we were really worried that Whitefish would romp all over

us,” he said. “It absolutely could have been worse, but again our focus on strong defense made a big difference.”

The Hawks’ next match is Tuesday in Plains at the Amundson Complex against Columbia Falls, with the girls game at 4 p.m. and the boys at 6. The Hawk boys and girls teams also have matches scheduled at Browning Friday.