Loggers soccer looks for playoff upset

The Libby Loggers soccer team enters the playoffs with four wins in their last five matches. In a down then up season, Libby struggled midseason while adjusting to a new formation. The growing pains nearly cost the team a playoff berth, but Coach Charlie Webster said the Loggers are now playing as well as any team in the state.

A 4-0 win against a visiting Polson squad earned the Loggers (5-3, 6-6) third place in the Northern A conference, The team travels Saturday to Southern A conference champion Corvallis (8-0, 11-1). The Blue Devils present a stiff challenge, but Webster said his team is eager to test a top seed.

The Loggers have outscored opponents 15-3 in their last five games, only losing 1-0 in Bigfork. In retrospect, that game would have been a real feather in Libby’s cap. One more win would have made Libby the Northern A champ, but 12 shots, including a penalty kick, could not find the back of the Bigfork net.  

“We outshot the Vikings 12-4,” Webster said. “And we had seven corner kicks to their two. We outplayed them in all aspects of the game.”

Webster said habits he noticed in early-season practices gave him reservations about what to expect from his team. Effort levels, organization and decision-making did not meet the sixth year coach’s standards. The team also had to overcome the loss of a star player after former All-State midfielder Johnny Davidson transferred.

The Loggers began the season in a 4-5-1 formation, but now deploy three defenders. Webster said the midseason change was an unpopular, but necessary move.

“The major factor (for the formation change) was our inability to maintain possession in the midfield,” Webster said. “That change was not well received by some players or their parents. Parents mutinied…I was told that I had ‘ruined the team.’”

Webster praised the majority of his team for demonstrating patience during the transition. He said his team’s ability to play in multiple formations is now a strength, allowing him to adjust the players’ positioning based on game situation and opponent.

“Players need time to adjust and adapt to the formation and system along with their roles and responsibilities,” Webster said. “It is a step-by-step process that takes time and patience. My goal is always to have things gel by playoff time.”

Webster said he is cautiously optimistic for Saturday’s game. He noted that his teams’ plus-12 scoring differential in the last five conference games matches Corvallis’. It will not be easy Saturday, but after a testing season of evolution the Loggers will see if their new look can pay off.