Sentinel survives Wolfpack

The Wolfpack will be a force someday. That time could arrive sooner than anyone anticipated.

The Glacier High School girls' soccer team gave Missoula Sentinel a mighty scare Saturday before falling 2-1 in a Western AA match at Kidsports Complex.

The Spartans (3-1-3) whipped the Wolfpack 4-0 on Aug. 30, but held on Saturday as Glacier rallied from a 2-0 halftime deficit to nearly tie the game with a flurry of late shots.

Lindsey Jette's goal gave Sentinel the lead in the 26th minute and Allie Smith made it 2-0 five minutes later. Then the tide turned.

Skyler St. Onge collected a pass from Jenna Mace in the 55th minute and raced past Sentinel's defense before unleashing a long strike, which drew the Wolfpack within one goal.

Maddey Frey, Molly Benedetto and St. Onge each had late scoring chances as Glacier launched most of its 11 shots in the second half.

"I think today was one of our best games," St. Onge said. "At the end we really started moving the ball around and looking up. At the beginning it was kind of frustrating, but at the end we really stepped it up."

The Wolfpack (1-6) lost for the sixth straight time after opening its inaugural season with a victory at Missoula Big Sky, but Glacier coach Paul Holmgren was more than encouraged.

"I think they're making tremendous improvement," he said. "We moved the ball well today. We worked hard on that the last week or so, and it's starting to show up. We were working the ball, both on the outside and the inside."

Spartans coach Keri Grasky said it was Sentinel's veteran back line, along with Emily Mason's stellar goalkeeping, that helped it survive.

"I give total credit to Glacier," she said. "Those girls out-hustled us. They definitely played more determined than we did.

"They've got nothing to lose, they're just going at it. A lot of teams would just kind of lose focus, but they definitely haven't."

The Wolfpack has no seniors and just a handful of juniors, while Sentinel boasts seven seniors and eight juniors.

Glacier freshman goalkeeper Patty Hughes shined in her first start, collecting 14 saves in place of sophomore Kayla Byle, who was competing for the Wolfpack cross country team in Missoula.

"We knew she was a good keeper," Holmgren said of Hughes. "We have a great keeper ahead of her in Kayla, so Patty is in a tough spot, but she did a great job today. She thinks, she reacts well, she plays the ball out very nicely."

Holmgren said Sydney Sharaf was outstanding in the front and middle, while Glacier's outside midfielders attacked well and its defense was consistent as usual.

Sentinel 2 0 - 2

Glacier 0 1 - 1

SENTINEL - Lindsey Jette (Dewi Yokelson), 26:00; Allie Smith (Heather Foote), 31:00

GLACIER - Skyler St. Onge (Jenna Mace), 55:00

Shots on goal - Sent. 21, Gla.11

Corner kicks - Sent. 2, Gla. 1

Goalie saves - Sent. 7 (Emily Mason), Gla. 14 (Patty Hughes)

Fouls - Sent. 8, Gla. 7

Cards - None

Sentinel 3, Glacier 0 (boys)

Glacier couldn't capitalize on its strong start.

The Wolfpack (1-6) controlled the first half with waves of early pressure and sharp defense, but the Spartans (4-3) broke through with two goals in the first half and kept Glacier at bay in the second.

Vitaly Chinikaylo found the net in the 16th minute before Charlie Wellert gave the Spartans breathing room by scoring just before the break. Zane Reneau made it 3-0 with a beautiful header two minutes after halftime.

But Glacier's showing was an improvement upon its recent contests. In many ways it was even superior to the Wolfpack's 3-1 loss at Sentinel on Aug. 30.

"I was happy with the way they played today," Wolfpack coach Ryan O'Rourke said. "I felt in the last couple of games we've let down a bit more than we should have, and today it seemed like we played a lot better.

"The guys came out and played hard. We controlled the ball pretty well in the first 20 minutes."

O'Rourke said maintaining concentration for 80 minutes is difficult for Glacier's young players, especially when their intense play necessitates substitutions, bringing even less experienced players onto the pitch.

Glacier managed 15 shots on goal, most of which came in the first half.

"We played better today than we have in the past few games," Wolfpack sophomore Josh Neiman said.

"We just need to push more people forward when we're attacking. Just push more people forward and have more people support the forwards and the (midfielders)."

The Spartans totaled 21 shots, but few of them were clear looks beyond the three that went in.

"I think, certainly, our defense has improved a lot," O'Rourke said.

"When we played them the first time we allowed them to have a lot more good opportunities on goal, and the score could have been far exceeding 3-1."

Goalkeeper Kasey Haugan kept Glacier in that first meeting, just as he did Saturday with 11 saves. Left defender Chazz Roberts also was superb, while O'Rourke and Nieman said Jared Rice's intensity, energy and leadership were vital.

"The thing about Glacier is they're really well coached and they're really solid, so they're not going to just fold over," Sentinel coach Gary Stein said. "They're going to be a force to be reckoned with down the road as long as they stay together.

"They've got some players. We knew that, and we didn't want to disrespect them or anything. We just knew that we should have been the better team, and we were in the second half."

Sentinel 2 1 - 3

Glacier 0 0 - 0

SENTINEL - Vitaly Chinikaylo (Zane Reneau), 16:00; Charlie Wellert (Colin Buley), 39:00; Reneau (Chinikaylo), 42:00

Shots on goal - Sent. 21, Gla. 15

Corner kicks - Sent. 5, Gla. 2

Goalie saves - Sent. 11 (Nate Bell), Gla. 14 (Kasey Haugan 11, Max Himsl 3)

Fouls - Sent. 7, Gla. 3

Cards - None