Glacier soccer sweeps Big Sky on senior day
Senior Day for the Glacier boys and girls soccer teams was a case study in efficiency.
Both Wolfpack squads picked up 1-0 shutouts versus Big Sky on Thursday. For the boys, the win offers momentum going into Saturday's matchup with Flathead. For the girls, it keeps the Wolfpack's hopes for a home game in the playoffs alive, if they can knock off the Bravettes in their half of the doubleheader.
Girls
Glacier 1, Big Sky 0
Glacier's lone goal came on a play that left coach Paul Holmgren nearly speechless.
Wolfpack forward Maddey Frey raced from nearly the midfield line to the penalty box to out run the Big Sky defense - leaving one defender sprawled out on the turf in her wake - then gathered in a Brook Meier pass and made a crossing shot from a seemingly impossible angle, just tucking the ball inside the far post for the score.
"Determination," Holmgren said, shaking his head in amazement.
It was as if Frey just wanted to show Big Sky what the best forward in the state looks like. Or should we say, what that forward looks like just before she vanishes over the horizon.
That turned out to be all the Wolfpack needed as Glacier had one of its strongest defensive performances of the season.
Defender Morgan Zauner turned in what was probably the defensive play of the match in the closing minutes when Big Sky forward Sierra Smith got behind the defense on a breakaway. It looked like Smith would at least get a clear shot at the goal, but Zauner recovered in time to kick the ball away in the penalty box.
Her goal on the play?
"Just get back and keep her from scoring," she said.
Mission accomplished, but the way Wolfpack Goalie Kayla Byle played it might not have mattered. Byle was flawless even as things got frantic as the game wore on and the frustrated Eagles grew desperate. Nine of Byle's 13 saves came in the second half.
Byle deflected credit the way she knocked away Big Sky shots. It was her defensive teammates, especially the midfielders, that made the difference, she said.
"My defense was really good," Byle said. "We held our midfield."
Holmgren agreed.
"The defense played very well, and did a good job passing (the ball) up," he said.
With the win, Glacier keeps its hopes of hosting a playoff game alive. The fifth-place Wolfpack, now 5-4-2, could move into fourth with a win Saturday against Flathead. With the loss, Big Sky, 6-3-3, falls from second to third in the Western AA.
Senior midfielder Nicole Hall - who Holmgren singled out as one of the stalwarts on defense - had another motivation. Hall pointed out that Big Sky is the lone Western AA team that has yet to hang a 'W' on the Wolfpack.
Senior Day, she said, wasn't the time to allow that to change.
"We wanted to keep that going," she said.
Big Sky 0 0 - 0
Glacier 1 0 - 1
Glacier - Maddey Frey (Brooke Meier) 12:00
Shots - Big Sky 13, Glacier 6
Goalie saves - Big Sky 5 (Shelby Quamme), Glacier 13 (Kayla Byle)
Corner kicks - Big Sky 3, Glacier 4
Fouls - Big Sky 10, Glacier 7
Cards - Big Sky 0, Glacier 0
Boys
Glacier 1, Big Sky 0
While the girls kept their undefeated streak against Big Sky alive, the boys ended a streak of their own. The Glacier boys won their first game ever on their home field at the Glacier campus.
Last year Glacier won at home, but that was at Kidsports Complex, the field they shared with Flathead. The Wolfpack had yet to win at home this season.
"It feels good to get a win on our home field finally," said Glacier coach Ryan O'Rourke. "We finally got the monkey off our backs."
Big Sky came in winless but played anything like the Western AA's last-place team, at least on the defensive side of the ball. The Eagles played determined, mistake-free defense, O'Rourke said. They kept a lot of defenders back.
But the game was played almost entirely on Big Sky's side of the field. In fact, the Eagles only managed three shots on goal, while the Wolfpack gave Eagle goalie Lucas Wittkopp a workout, firing 19 shots.
The lack of offense finally caught up to Big Sky at the 58-minute mark when Wolfpack senior David Wirth took a pass from Josh Neiman and beat Wittkopp.
"That was a great ball from Josh," Wirth said. "That was a well-placed pass."
The Glacier midfielder admitted the win - as they often are on Senior Day - was bittersweet.
"It's sort of emotional, it's our last home game ever," Wirth said. "It feels really good to come out here and get the win."
With the victory, the Wolfpack moves to 4-5-2 on the season, further muddling the jumbled Western AA standings. Glacier could end up with a road game versus Flathead in the first round in the playoffs, but that won't be settled until Saturday's results are in the books.
The only certainty in the competitive Western AA is that Big Sky, at 0-12-0, will hold down the last-place spot.
Big Sky 0 0 - 0
Glacier 0 1 - 1
Glacier - David Wirth (Josh Neiman) 58:00
Shots - Big Sky 3, Glacier 19
Goalie saves - Big Sky 12 (Lucas Wittkopp), Glacier 3 (Kasey Haugan)
Corner kicks - Big Sky 1, Glacier 7
Fouls - Big Sky 6, Glacier 9
Cards - Big Sky 0, Glacier 1 yellow