Clark Fork girls stomp the Broncs

The girls Clark Fork Soccer Alliance continued to be undefeated after chalking up their fourth win of the season against a high school junior varsity team.

The girls U19 team stomped the Hamilton Lady Broncs 8-2 at Amundson Sports Complex last Monday.

"The team is showing good technical and tactical play. We've been working on good passing, keeping the ball on the ground, moving from back to front and staying connected as a unit," said Nick Lawyer, head coach for the Clark Fork team, which has players from Plains, Thompson Falls and Saint Regis.

The Lady Broncs, which had one loss and one win before Monday's game, had only 10 players at Plains - no substitutes - which prompted Lawyer, who had 20 players, to pull a player midway through the first half. In addition, because Hamilton had no subs, and because of the heat, Eric Nygaard of Thompson Falls, the head referee, declared water breaks halfway through each 40-minute half. Both coaches decided to have nine players on the field in the second half. Jessie Stephens of Hot Springs and Theo Nygaard, Eric's son, also served as referees.

Within two minutes of game start, Solveig Nygaard of Thomson Falls drew first blood, slipping the ball by Lady Bronc keeper Jorga Duerr. Minutes later, Plains player Katherine Wrobleski nailed it for a 2-0 score, only to put another into the net after a pass from her sister, Claire Wrobleski.

"We came out firing on all cylinders. We scored within two minutes and had two goals within five minutes. That kind of takes the energy out of the game a bit," said Lawyer. The coach also said they never know if a team coming from a Class A school is going to be tough or easy.

The fourth goal was also early in the first half, with Claire Wrobleski hitting one into the net. With just over five minutes left in the first half, the Lady Broncs got one past keeper Ocean Hyde, who had five saves in the first half. Seconds before the end of the first, Solveig Nygaard scored for a 5-1 score.

Nygaard took over as Clark Fork's keeper in the second half and remained at the net until replaced by Lexi Volk and then Jordan Costner. Nygaard had four saves, including two diving blocks. Costner had two saves and Volk had one. Savannah Costner of Plains scored first in the second half.

With about 10 minutes left in the game, the Lady Broncs got their second and final goal. Two minutes later, Elisabeth Weedeman nabbed her third goal of the season, followed almost immediately by Claire Wrobleski to end the game 8-2. Lawyer said that Wrobleski is one of the team's top players. The 17-year-old Plains girl has played soccer since age 4 and plays competitive soccer on a regional level in the western United States and for the Missoula Strikers in the spring. She plans to play for Ave Maria University in Florida in the fall of 2024. "She loves the game and clearly enjoys playing. She also thinks about the game at a very high level so of course she's a leader on the team," said Lawyer.

Lawyer attributed the victory partially to the effective passing abilities of his team and the decisive communication they had on the field. "One thing that I love about soccer is that the players have to solve the problem on the field. I can't do it for them on the sideline," said Lawyer, a veteran coach. "We coaches have to teach them in practice, help them become better, and in the game they have to be the ones to decide how to play, where to play, and what to do," added Lawyer, who also said that he's found success with empowering his players to talk as a team about solutions they could come up with on their own.

Lawyer said the game against Hamilton was an easy game for them and it gave him the opportunity to give his younger, less experienced players field time, like Weedeman, an eighth-grader. "She scored a goal and was dangerous on multiple runs in behind the defense," he said. The Clark Fork team has seven high school juniors and seniors on the team, as well as 10 freshmen and sophomores, two junior high kids and a sixth-grader.

"I'm most proud of these girls for their possession play," said Lawyer, "using their angles to move the ball and shift the opponent so we can create scoring opportunities."