Lady Pirates humbled by Hamilton in home opener
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POLSON — After keeping pace with the Lady Broncs in the first half of their season opener, the Lady Pirates stumbled out of the gates in the opening minutes of the second half and let the game slip away from them.
In Polson Tuesday evening, the Lady Pirates only trailed Hamilton, who returned 10 starters from the past year’s 11-2-1 team, 1-0 after the first 40 minutes, but the Broncs rattled off three goals in the first 12 minutes of the second half and added another late in the half to hand the Lady Pirates a 5-0 loss and spoil their home opener.
“Ultimately, they did break into some bad habits in the beginning, but overall compared to what I saw last year, where they beat us by 7,8 or 9, we played a lot better,” Polson coach Michael Hewston said. “We had a breakdown in communication there at the very end, but it was a good chance to see where we’re at and where we’re going.”
Six minutes into the second half, Lady Bronc midfielder Casey Shifflett scored her second goal of the game in the 46th minute to give Hamilton a 2-0 lead. Four minutes later Nellie Moran scored and about two minutes later Lady Bronc striker Maria Zepeda knocked a rebound in.
After Hamilton’s fourth goal, Hewston could be heard from the sideline instructing his team they were playing as individuals and to start playing as a team. Seniors Sarah Devlin and Reegan von Wildenradt heeded his advice and got the Lady Pirates back to playing their game.
“I can’t say too much about Devlin and Reegan (von Wildenradt). Both seniors, wing and midfielders. I really liked the way when we started to get excited after they scored in the second half, they calmed down and started using each other again,” Hewston said.
Hamilton finished with 29 shots compared to the Lady Pirates’ six.
“I liked what I saw. I saw sparks of what I’m looking for, but we need to play for 80 minutes. And at some point you need to give credit where credit is do, Hamilton is a good team,” Hewston said. “Like I said I’m not going to put too much weight on this game. I saw what I needed to see right at the beginning of the season. I think this team is a better team than what we had last year at this time and I think it will show up against Corvallis.”
The Lady Pirates host Corvallis Friday at 3 p.m.
Summary
Hamilton 5, Polson 0
Hamilton 1 4 –5
Polson 0 0 –0
H - Casey Shifflett (unassisted) 20:00
H - Shifflett (Kelsey Brangoccio) 46:00
H - Nellie Moran (Kelsi Almond) 50:00
H - Maria Zepeda (Jill Toews) 52:00
H - Brangoccio (Almond) 72:00
