Glacier, Flathead square off in soccer

Let the rivalry begin.

Glacier and Flathead square off on the soccer field today at Kidsports Complex in the first scheduled crosstown athletic outing between the two high schools.

The girls will kick off the doubleheader at 3 p.m. followed by the boys at 5.

"I'm sure the kids have really been looking forward to the day they get to play them," said Flathead girls coach Scott Warnell.

"It will be exciting."

Warnell said the rivalry will be good for Kalispell.

"It will take a few years for the two teams to bounce back to the level Flathead was at when it was one school," he said.

"But I'm confident both schools will be competing at that level in three or four years."

There has been one unscheduled meeting between the two schools thus far. That came in loser-out action at the Great Falls Invitational volleyball tournament on Sept. 8.

Flathead won that battle, 25-23, 25-20.

Flathead and Glacier have competed at the same events in cross country and golf, but the two schools have not gone head-to-head in those sports.

The first crosstown volleyball match is set for 1 p.m. Saturday.

The Braves and Wolfpack meet on the gridiron Oct. 12.

The Flathead girls enter today's soccer match 2-0-3 on the season and are coming off a 0-0 tie with Missoula Sentinel.

"Glacier will be up for this game," Warnell said.

"They would love nothing better than to beat Flathead and give us our first loss."

The Glacier girls are 1-4 and dropped their last outing, 2-1 to Helena Capital.

The Flathead boys handled Missoula Sentinel 3-1 on Saturday to improve to 3-2. The Glacier boys fell to Capital 6-1 and are 1-4 on the fall season.

One Kalispell family will have split allegiances today.

Connor Cavigli is a starting center half for Flathead while his younger brother, freshman Ian Cavigli, is a starting left half for Glacier.

"Both great kids, hard competitors," said Glacier boys' coach Ryan O'Rourke.

"It will be fun to see them out there playing against each other."

O'Rourke said the crosstown clash is unique this time because the players were all part of one team a year ago.

"They know the guys so well," he said.

"They are looking forward to matching up to them individually. They have been talking more about this one than any other game."

So have the coaches. O'Rourke was an assistant to Flathead head coach Eric Sawtelle in 2006 before moving to Glacier.

"We're friends," O'Rourke said.

"Eric is a great coach. We're both big supporters of each other and our programs."

Glacier and Flathead will face off for a second time this soccer season on Oct. 11. Those boys' and girls' matches are at Legends Stadium, at 6 and 8 p.m.

Flathead is the host team for the second meeting.