Braves kicked out of semis

Billings Senior ends Flathead's title hopes on penalty kicks

Brian Luptak promised his Billings Senior teammates one thing heading into the shootout of Friday afternoon's AA state soccer semifinal match at Kidsport.

"I told the whole team not one of them (Flathead Braves) would score," said Luptak.

"All those all-state seniors were looking for me to stop the goals. I couldn't let them down. They had always lost in the semis."

Pretty big words coming from a backup goalie.

But the poised keeper kept his vow with a pressure packed effort.

He denied back-to-back penalty kicks by Flathead's top two guns - Sean Riley and Jordan Lister - while a third attempt by Ross Van Brunt sailed wide. He banged his head on the goalpost denying Riley.

In between, Billings made three straight as the Broncs posted a 3-1 shootout victory over the Braves.

The Broncs were participating in their fifth straight AA state soccer semifinal game, having lost the last four. One of those was to Flathead last year, 2-1.

The win advances Senior to the championship match today, 2 p.m., against Bozeman, which edged Billings West 1-0 in the other semifinal match Friday.

Senior is looking for its first state championship since 1999. Kalispell was the host site that year.

The loss dropped Flathead, state runners-up in 2003, into a loser-out contest later in the day Friday against Butte.

Senior's Andrew Kreiter, Jeff Bartsch and Chris Andre fired off the three scoring penalty kicks in the shootout.

It was the first time Luptak was thrust into a shootout. He was filling in for senior starter Pat Rivers, who injured his thumb trying to stop a free kick shot by Flathead's Jeremy DeHerrera at 56 minutes.

"I like it," said Luptak of the shootout.

The matched was deadlocked at 2-all at the end of regulation. Neither team scored in the two 10 minute overtime periods, forcing the shootout.

"What a horrible way to lose, horrible way to lose," said FHS coach Tom McFarlane.

"Our three best shooters were just off the mark there. All three of those guys had great games on the field."

Senior's scoring in regulation came off the foot of Kreiter. He gave the Broncs a 1-0 edge, picking up a loose ball and scoring at 26 minutes.

He also had the finale at 67 minutes on a free kick that was drilled into the upper left corner of the goal.

That gave Kreiter 20 goals for the season.

Flathead tied the match at 32 minutes when Van Brunt took a cross from Lister and scored from close range.

Flathead took its first lead on DeHerrera's rocket shot.

"After the second goal, I thought we had the momentum shift to us," said McFarlane.

"We had a little better ball possession after that."

Senior had 19 shots on goal to 18 for Flathead. Senior had six corner kicks to four for Flathead.

"With two excellent teams like that, (it's a shame) it couldn't have been decided on the field," said Billings assistant coach Dan Bergstrom.

"It was an exciting match. They play our style. A good physical match. Real quality soccer.

"We were having better scoring opportunities, but (Flathead's Brock) Jahner is a superior goalie. The best I've seen. He saved the game for them (in regulation)."

Flathead 4, Butte 1

The Braves had just a little over an hour to recover from the heartbreaking loss to Senior.

"I know it's tough to do, but I just told them the way you overcome this disappointment is to let that game go," said McFarlane.

"And to replace that disappointment with pride. The next thing you can do is bring a trophy home. It will be third (instead of first)."

Flathead got back on track in a hurry, with DeHerrera scoring at seven minutes.

A penalty kick by Riley eight minutes later put FHS in control 2-0.

Flathead added two more goals in the final half - Dan Windauer and Riley. Assisting on the scores were Van Brunt and Stephen Bailon.

"Really tired," said McFarlane of his players.

"They put a lot of energy out in the first game. Physically and emotionally. It's amazes me they came back, but they did."

Flathead will face Billings West today at 10 a.m. for third place.

West stayed alive by beating Helena High 2-0 in loser-out play.

Friday

At Kidsport

Stats compiled by Brent Goodrich

Girls

Semifinals

Helena Capital 3, Billings West 0

Billings West 0 0 - 0

Helena Capita 2 1 - 3

HC - Katie Moon (Leah Johnson), 1:00; Moon (Bethany VanDyke), 21:00; Moon (unassisted), 77

Shots - West 12, Capital 15. Saves - West 10 (Kristin Barta 5, Aryn DeLong 5), Capital (Katie Beall 11). Corner Kicks - West 2, Capital 3.

Fouls - West 8, Capital 8. Offside - none. Yellow cards - Capital 1. Red cards - none. Records - West 8-3-3, Capital 11-1-2.

Bozeman 1, C.M. Russell 0 (PKs, 4-2)

CMR 0 0 0 - 0

Bozeman 0 0 0 - 0

Shots - CMR 17, Bozeman 15. Saves - CMR (Mariah Rayl 12), Bozeman (Casey Harn 10). Corner Kicks - CMR 4, Bozeman 12. Fouls -

CMR 11, Bozeman 18. Offside - CMR 0, Bozeman 1. Yellow cards - Bozeman 1. Red cards - none. Records - CMR 8-3-4, Bozeman

9-1-4.

PKs: Bozeman 4, CMR 2

Bozeman (shooting first)

Katyie Vander Vos - GOOD

Lindsay Rotherham - GOOD

Vanessa Protz - GOOD

Megan Bowen - GOOD

CMR

Brittany Docketer - No good (high)

Kirbie Wages - GOOD

Ashlee Barton - GOOD

Jackie Nelson - No good (Casey Harn save, smothered ball with quick move left)

Loser Out

Missoula Sentinel 3, Billings Senior 2

Missoula Sentinel 2 1 - 3

Billings Senior 0 2 - 2

MS - Danielle McQuinn (unassisted), 10:00; Kelsey Buckley (unassisted), 30:00; McQuinn (unassisted), 69:00

BS - M'ily Reiter (unassisted), 54:00; Samantha Alario (unassisted), 65:00

Shots - Sentinel 9, Senior 15. Saves - Sentinel (Grace Harris 5), Senior (Brenna Becker 4). Corner Kicks - Sentinel 5, Senior 5. Fouls - Sentinel 2, Senior 1. Offside - none. Yellow cards - none. Red cards - none. Records - Sentinel 4-7-4, Senior 7-5-3.

Helena High 6, Missoula Hellgate 3

Missoula Hellgate 3 0 - 3

Helena High 5 1 - 6

MH - Margo Lentz (Leah Snyder), 1:00; Lentz (Heidi Gaskill), 9:00; Kelsey Bernius (Ellen Seagraves), 35:00

H - Whitney Haseman (Katie Forba), 6:00; Haseman (Rena Satre-Meloy), 13:00; Forba (Mandi Feucht), 23:00; Alex May-Fraser (Haseman), 24:00; Allison Moon (Charla Banks), 26:00; Haseman (Satre-Meloy), 44:00.

Shots - Hellgate 11, Helena 13. Saves - Hellgate 2, Helena 4. Corner Kicks - Hellgate 4, Helena 8. Fouls - Hellgate 1, Helena 4. Offside -

Hellgate 2, Helena 0. Yellow cards - none. Red cards - none. Records - Hellgate 6-8-1, Helena 10-2-2.

Missoula Sentinel 1, C.M. Russell 0

Missoula Sentinel 1 0 - 1

CMR 0 0 - 0

MS - Amanda Agal (Lauren Linford), 35:00

Shots - Sentinel 13, CMR 14. Saves - Sentinel (Grace Harris 6), CMR (Mariah Rayl 10). Corner Kicks - Sentinel 3, CMR 2. Fouls - Sentinel 10, CMR 2. Offside - none. Yellow cards - none. Red cards - none. Records - Sentinel 5-7-4, CMR 8-4-4.

Billings West 2, Helena High 1 (OT)

Helena High 1 0 0 - 1

Billings West 1 0 1 - 2

H - Heather Grotbo (unassisted), 39:00

BW - Whitney Martin (unassisted), 10:00; Stefanie Hellenthal (unassisted), 85

Shots - Helena 10, West 6. Saves - Helena (Alicia Korn 5), West (Aryn DeLong 6). Corner Kicks - Helena 9, West 2. Fouls - Helena 5, West

7. Offside - Helena 4, West 1. Yellow cards - none. Red cards - none. Records - Helena 10-3-2, West 9-3-3.

Boys

Semifinals

Billings Senior 3, Flathead 2 (PKs, 3-0)

Billings Senior 1 1 0 - 2

Flathead 1 1 0 - 2

BS - Andrew Kreiter (unassisted), 26:00; Kreiter (unassisted), 67:00

F - Ross Van Brunt (Jordan Lister), 32:00; Jeremy DeHerrera (unassisted), 56:00

Shots - Senior 19, Flathead 18. Saves - Senior 4 (Pat Rivers 1, Derek Luptak 3), Flathead (Brock Jahner 7). Corner Kicks - Senior 6,

Flathead 4. Fouls - Senior 21, Flathead 7. Offside - Senior 3, Flathead 1. Yellow cards - none. Red cards - none. Records - Senior 11-2-1, Flathead 10-3-1.

PKs: Billings Senior 3, Flathead 0

Flathead (shooting first)

Sean Riley - No good (Derek Luptak save diving to his left, banged head into goalpost but recovered)

Jordan Lister - No good (Luptak save diving to his right)

Ross Van Brunt - No good (wide left)

Billings Senior

Andrew Kreiter - GOOD

Jeff Bartsch - GOOD

Chris Andre - GOOD

Bozeman 1, Billings West 0

Billings West 0 0 - 0

Bozeman 0 1 - 1

B - Nate Appel (Johannes Middleton), 55: 00

Shots - West 6, Bozeman 4. Saves - West (Miguel Martinez 3), Bozeman (Henry Graham 3). Corner Kicks - West 7, Bozeman 3. Fouls -

West 16, Bozeman 10. Offside - West 0, Bozeman 1. Yellow cards - none. Red cards - none. Records - West 7-6-1, Bozeman 9-3-2.

Loser Out

Helena High 1, Great Falls High 0

Great Falls High 0 0 - 0

Helena High 0 1 - 1

H - Ryan Guazzo (B.J. Biskupiak), 42nd minute

Shots - Great Falls 7, Helena 9. Saves - Great Falls (Todd Lukkason 5), Helena (Matt Emery 4). Corner Kicks - Great Falls 5, Helena 2.

Fouls - Great Falls 12, Helena 5. Offside - Great Falls 3, Helena 6. Yellow cards - Great Falls 1. Red cards - none. Records - Great Falls 6-7-2, Helena 6-8-2.

Butte 4, Helena Capital 2 (OT)

Butte 1 1 2 - 4

Helena Capital 1 1 0 - 2

B - Chris Reichel (penalty kick), 25:00; Zach Sharon (Tim Obstar), 49:00; Keegan Rogers (unassisted), 83:00; Ted Decker (Rogers), 98:00

HC - Neil Benkelman (Adam Clinch), 35:00; Kevin Gittens (unassisted), 80:00

Shots - Butte 22, Capital 13. Saves - Butte (Kory Cramer 5), Capital (Brendan Ward 4). Corner Kicks - Butte 4, Capital 8. Fouls - Butte 9,

Capital 14. Offside - Butte 2, Capital 3. Yellow cards - none. Red cards - none. Records - Butte 5-8-2, Capital 8-3-3.

Flathead 4, Butte 1

Butte 0 1 - 1

Flathead 2 2 - 4

B - Matt Kenneally (Ted Decker), 77:00

F - Jeremy DeHerrera (unassisted), 7:00; Sean Riley (penalty kick), 15:00; Dan Windauer (Ross Van Brunt), 62:00; Riley (Stephen Bailon), 80:00

Shots - Flathead 16, Butte 18. Saves - Flathead 5 (Brock Jahner 3, Mack Andrews 2), Butte (Kory Cramer 9). Corner Kicks - Flathead 4, Butte 4. Fouls - Flathead 15, Butte 6. Offside - Flathead 2, Butte 1. Yellow cards - none. Red cards - none. Records - Flathead 11-3-1, Butte 5-9-2.

Billings West 2, Helena High 0

Helena High 0 0 - 0

Billings West 2 0 - 2

BW - Eric Fisher (Kevin Clapper), 3:00; Michael Radi (Fisher) 28

No team statistics available. Records - West 8-6-1, Helena 6-9-2.