Bulldogs sweep Pirates
WHITEFISH — Whitefish blanked the Polson Pirates 4-0 at Smith Fields on Tuesday in a Northern A soccer game to stay undefeated.
“Polson had a very organized defense, their keeper played well,” Whitefish coach John Lacey said. “Really made it hard for us to play against — it definitely took our guys a little while to find a rhythm. When teams know you they can play you well and Polson did that.”
The Bulldogs are 6-0.
Sam Menicke, Chase Sabin, Marvin Kimera and Casey Schneider each scored for Whitefish.
“Menicke made a lot of plays that didn’t show up on the score sheet,” Lacey said. “He had an outstanding game.”
Whitefish heads to Corvallis on Saturday for a 2 p.m. game.
Polson 0 0 — 0
Whitefish 3 1 — 4
W — Sam Menicke (Brandon Mendoza) 14:00
W — Chase Sabin (Mendoza) 15:00
W — Marvin Kimera (Casey Schneider) 24:00
W — Schneider (Niath Edland) 72:00
Shots on goal — Polson 4, Whitefish 12; Goalie saves — Polson 8 (Gabe Mergenthaler) Whitefish 4 (Colter Upton, Bradlee Anderson); Corner kicks — Polson 0, Whitefish 6; Fouls — Polson 3, Whitefish 6; Cards — None
Flathead 7, Big Sky 0
Two players scored hat tricks for the Flathead Braves as they shut out Missoula Big Sky in Western AA play.
“It’s good that we’re scoring goals,” Flathead (4-2) coach Zach Brenneman said. “We had a little bit of a slow start today but it kicked in in the second half.”
Jalen Hawes and AJ Apple each had three goals. Eric Gardner also scored and assisted on Hawes’ first goal.
Hawes assisted on Gardner’s goal.
“We have a tough game against [Missoula] Sentinel on Thursday,” Brenneman said.
Thursday’s game is also the Braves’ first road trip of the season.
The game kicks off at 3 p.m.
Flathead 1 6 — 7
Big Sky 0 0 — 0
F — Jalen Hawes (Eric Gardner) 12:00
F — Hawes 49:00
F — Gardner (Hawes) 50:00
F — Hawes (Arsen Sokolov) 55:0
F — AJ Apple 58:00
F — Apple (Brendan Barnes) 54:00
F — Apple 66:00
Shots on goal — Flathead 20, Big Sky 1; Goalie saves — Flathead 1, Big Sky 13; Corner kicks — Flathead 2, Big Sky 0; Fouls — Flathead 5, Big Sky 8; Cards — Flathead (yellow); Big Sky (yellow).
Glacier 5, Sentinel 5
The Glacier Wolfpack played to a tie with Missoula Sentinel after giving up three unanswered goals in the second half.
Sentinel’s three late goals erased a 4-2 lead.
“Not able to hold on to that for a win but managed to dig down and at least get a tie against this Sentinel squad,” Glacier coach Ryan Billiet said.
Billiet commended the energy of the team after a tough weekend of back-to-back games.
Zane Elliot scored a hat trick and assisted on Sam Ells’ goal.
Billiet said he was proud of his team for keeping level heads and showing character throughout the game.
“We are really creating a lot of opportunities.” Billiet said.
“The pieces are coming together ... the guys are really playing for one another.”
The Wolfpack is 2-2-2 and will travel to play Missoula Big Sky at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday.
Sentinel 1 4 — 5
Glacier 1 4 — 5
G — Zane Elliott (Braden Nitschelm) 19:00
S — (Name not available) 30:00
G — Micah Hiel (Diego Mendoza) 50:00
G — Elliott 55:00
S — Jake Larson 57:00
G — Sam Ells (Elliott) 60:00
S — Quinn Winger 65:00
S — Cole Reimer 70:00
S — Reimer 78:00
G — Elliott 79:00
Shots on goal — Sentinel 18, Glacier 12; Goalie saves — Sentinel 7, Glacier 12; Corner kicks — Sentinel 4, Glacier 2; Fouls — Sentinel 18, Glacier 7; Cards — Sentinel 3 (yellow).
Girls
Glacier 1, Sentinel 0
Madison Becker’s goal was all the Glacier Wolfpack needed to beat Missoula Sentinel.
Becker scored in the 30th minute.
“It was another gritty to the last minute win,” Glacier coach Brenden Byrd said. “Sentinel never let us down and played an amazing match.”
Byrd praised his defense for rising up to the challenge.
“The back line stood up to wave after wave of Sentinel attack.”
Glacier (5-0-1) has a 3:30 p.m. away game against Missoula Big Sky on Thursday.
Sentinel 0 0 — 0
Glacier 1 0 — 1
G — Madison Becker (free kick) 30:00
Shots on goal — Sentinel 5, Glacier 10; Goalie saves — Sentinel 9, Glacier 5 (Sophie Smith); Corner kicks — Sentinel 6, Glacier 3; Fouls — Sentinel 9, Glacier 5; Cards — None.
Whitefish 7, Polson 2
Whitefish scored a season-high seven goals as the Lady Bulldogs (3-3)took down Polson.
“Our offense is finally finding a rhythm,” Bulldogs coach Roland Benedict said. “We are attacking with a good tempo in the final third.”
The Bulldogs are also tipping the scales in their favor with shot accuracy.
“We are creating quality chances with 73 percent of our shots being on target, we just need to work on the conversion of our quality chances,” Benedict said.
Added Benedict: “With seven goals scored we had five different goal scorers and four fdifferent players creating changes with the assist highlights a well-rounded attack for our team.”
Whitefish has a 12 p.m. game at Corvallis on Saturday.
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 (Benkleman) 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.
Missoula Big Sky 3,
Flathead 2
A late goal by Missoula Big Sky sunk the Flathead Bravettes in a Western AA game.
Flathead (3-3) led 2-1 at the half.
Tessa Smith and Skyleigh Thompson both scored for the Bravettes.
Flathead’s next game is at Missoula Sentinel at 5 p.m. on Thursday.
Big Sky 1 2 — 3
Flathead 2 0 — 2
BS — Miya Nash (Gianna Migliaccio) 7:00
F — Tessa Smith 24:00
F — Skyleigh Thompson (Ellie Hawes) (29:00
BS —Paige Mickelson 60:00
BS — Paige Mickelson (Time of goal not available.
Shots on goal — Big Sky 6, Flathead 7; Goalie saves — Big Sky 4; Flathead 4 (Sara Harrison); Corner kicks — Big Sky 4, Flathead 2; Fouls — Big Sky 11, Flathead 9; Cards — None.