Rivalry renewed

Flathead girls rally for 4-3 win over Glacier

It was a tale of two halves as the Flathead and Glacier girls renewed their soccer rivalry Thursday evening. After a first half of offensive fireworks, the Flathead Bravettes rode a solid second-half defensive performance to a 4-3 comeback win.

Flathead's forward tandem of Heidi Windauer and Kassi Herbert took over the game after intermission. Windauer tied the game at 3-3 when she followed the rebound off a Herbert shot early in the second half.

Herbert then added the game winner with about 15 minutes left when she dribbled in front of the Glacier goal, beat the Wolfpack defense and buried a shot in the corner of the net, just past the outstretched hands of Glacier goalie Kayla Byle.

Flathead's defense put the clamps on the Wolfpack offense in the second half. But the first half wasn't exactly a defensive clinic. Windauer opened up the scoring a minute into the game with a breakaway goal that came while many in the large crowd at Legends Stadium were still settling into their seats.

But the Flathead lead didn't last long. Glacier forward Maddey Frey tied the score with a header off a nice centering pass from Bailey Pisk. Frey then gave Glacier its first lead over Flathead in soccer ever, boys or girls, when she scored off a pass from Madison Ruskit after a wild scramble in front of the Flathead goal.

Flathead evened the score later in the half when Herbert lofted a high shot at the Glacier goal. Byle got a hand on it, but Amryn Aryes was there to sneak the deflection in just past the goal post.

Frey was still one goal short of a first half hat trick. She took care of that with six minutes remaining when she rocketed a shot from well outside the penalty box. Flathead goalie Karli Kusler raced to knock the ball away, but Frey bent the shot past the goalie and it curved just inside the goal post.

Flathead coach Scott Warnell said the Bravettes made adjustments after the half with one goal in mind: finding a way to slow Frey.

"We just marked up a lot tighter (in the second half)," Warnell said. "Maddey is probably the best forward in the state. Our goal in the second half was to shut Maddey down."

Glacier coach Paul Holmgren said his team is still learning how to make the plays down the stretch needed to win games.

"We panicked a little bit," Holmgren said. "It was our game to win or lose. We didn't take care of finishing it up."

Flathead 2 2 - 4

Glacier 3 0 - 3

Flathead - Heidi Windauer 1:00, Amryn Ayres 30:00 (Kassi Herbert), Windauer 51:00 (Herbert), Herbert 65:00

Glacier - Maddey Frey 9:00 (Bailey Pisk), Frey 28:00 (Madison Ruskit), Frey 34:00

Shots on goal - Flathead 17, Glacier 16

Corner Kicks - Flathead 3, Glacier 3

Goalie saves - Flathead 8 (Karli Kusler), Glacier 12 (Kayla Byle)

Fouls - Flathead 10, Glacier 7

Cards - Flathead 0, Glacier 0