Braves begin state title defense Thursday

The Daily Inter Lake

The Braves weren't supposed to be in this position again. Not after graduating most of the players from last year's state championship team; not with a new head coach; and not after opening their season with a 6-2 loss at Class A Whitefish.

But the Flathead High School boys soccer team is back in the Class AA state tournament with Western AA's top seed. The Braves commence their title defense Thursday at 2:30 p.m. in Helena against Great Falls C.M. Russell - Eastern AA's No. 4 seed and the team Flathead edged 2-1 in last year's championship game.

Flathead enters the tournament with a 9-1 conference mark and 10-2 overall record, thanks to a group of young, but talented and determined athletes.

Eric Sawtelle was an assistant at Flathead for three seasons before taking over for Tom McFarlane as head coach this year.

Sawtelle attributes Flathead's Western AA championship to "the combination of having a lot of players that want to be out there, that want to work hard, but also are very talented."

The Braves lost Sean Riley - Flathead's all-time leading scorer - to graduation in the offseason. They also said goodbye to standout goalkeeper Mack Andrews, who now plays at Montana State University-Billings.

But new stars have emerged amongst a tight-knit team. Andrew Gill was Andrews' backup last year. The senior began this season at stopper, but moved to forward and leads the Braves with 10 goals.

Gill is Western AA's second-leading scorer and the Braves have three others athletes in the top six. Luke Fischer is third in the conference with seven goals and eight assists, Chresten Knaff is fourth with six goals and 7 assists and Connor Cavigli is sixth with five goals and four assists - all three are juniors.

Junior Jordan Vaughan took over at goalkeeper and has minded the net brilliantly while becoming a team leader.

"Jordan's been another one of those players who has stepped into a big role on the team and played very well," Sawtelle said.

CMR was also decimated by graduation following last year's championship game, but the Bison didn't reload as quickly as Flathead. CMR is 5-6-2 record under coach Rob Zimmerman, but it has beaten Western AA's Missoula Hellgate and Helena Capital - the conference's No. 2 seed. Mike Forzley is the team's leading scorer.

"All those players who stood out in that (championship game last year) were seniors, so this is going to be a new team we're looking at," Sawtelle said. "They had a really strong team last year, so it was a great game, really close.

"I expect them to come out with a lot of pressure and I'm sure they'll play us really tight."

Sawtelle hasn't seen CMR this year, so he's preparing the Braves based on last year's tendencies.

"They're all around a well-coached team," Sawtelle said. "Defensively, they were very strong and offensively, they had a good counter attack, so I'm assuming they'll have the same setup this year, but it's tough to say with the players they have."

Though the tournament is double elimination, one loss sends a team to the losers' bracket where they can't finish higher than third place.

"We're all really excited about it," Sawtelle said. "I think every player out there has high expectations for this tournament.

"We have great talent, our athletic ability is there. I really think we can win the tournament if we stay focused and composed. If we lose our composure, we could have trouble."

Staying poised through pressure and frustration is tough for any high school team, especially one comprised mostly of underclassmen. It will be particularly challenging in the state tournament where every game is intense and highly emotional.

"Emotions are something that we've been working on, especially throughout the end of the season," Sawtelle said. "It's something our team has struggled with a little bit and it's a tough thing to coach."

Sawtelle said keeping composed means not getting upset over mistakes and "staying focused on the game plan, not just forcing (the ball) down the middle, trying to get a goal."

Though both teams are young, Flathead may hold a psychological edge against CMR because many of the Braves were reserves or contributors on last year's team and saw firsthand how to win on a big stage.

"I think that will factor in to a certain degree, especially in terms of our pride and expectations of ourselves," Sawtelle said.

And the Braves won't be forcing inexperienced players into their lineup Thursday. Most of their regulars are seasoned veterans by now after playing a dozen games this season.

"We have some bumps and bruises, but everybody who started the season is still playing and that's huge for us, so we're thankful for that," Sawtelle said.

The Flathead-CMR winner faces the winner of Thursday's Helena-Billings West match in the semifinals Friday while the losers meet in the losers' bracket.