Hat trick sinks Flathead
Flathead's Malia Ozegovich runs past a sliding Anna Hochhalter of Missoula Sentinel in the first half. Ozegovich scored both Bravette goals.
Flathead's Monte White fires a shot past Missoula Sentinel's Dayton Kohler.
Flathead's Chelsea Shuman slides into a kick toward the goal around Missoula Sentinel's Becca Bixby toward the end of Saturday afternoon's game.
Kennedy Fulbright capped her second hat trick of the season with a hats off, head-on goal in the final two minutes.
The Missoula Sentinel junior scored the game-winner with a leaping header from the right side of the goalie box in the 78th minute to down Flathead 3-2 in Western AA girls soccer at Kidsports Complex on a rainy Saturday afternoon.
Kennedy's exciting midair tilted forehead shot was her third goal of the match for Sentinel (3-0-2 overall).
"We've been working a lot on crosses and we have some girls on the team that love to head and I'm glad that it's finally showing in games," Sentinel coach Keri Grasky said. "It's fun to see that, it excites the fans. Everyone gets excited for it."
Flathead wasn't excited to play catch up with time running out but still managed to put together one last offensive push that nearly ended with a game-tying goal.
Malia Ozegovich scored both goals for the Bravettes, who fell to 2-1-1 on the season.
"We played tough but we kind of backed off towards the end of the game, gave them a lot of space and gave them a lot of opportunities which they capitalized on," Flathead coach Scott Warnell said.
"(Fulbright's header shot) was a good goal for them. But if we we're marking up tight, they wouldn't have been able to get that opportunity. So we'll just try to clean a few things up on Monday and prepare for Tuesday."
Flathead jumped ahead 1-0 early after Ozegovich booted a hard shot at Sentinel's goalie, who reached for the ball over her head but with wet hands let it slip right through into the net.
"With the weather and the rain, it was a great shot but our keeper should have had that first goal. But it happens," Grasky said. "This was our second game now where we've been down 1-0 at the half and come back to win. So not exactly what a coach wants but at least it's good to see the girls can do that."
Fulbright scored twice in five minutes to give the Spartans the lead in the second half before Ozegovich answered back to tie the match. Teammate Chelsea Shuman launched a shot from the left side that deflected off the goal post to the feet of Ozegovich, who was ready and scored the rebound quickly.
"She stepped up and got two good goals for us," Warnell said of Ozegovich.
Flathead resumes play at home on Tuesday against Missoula Hellgate at 4:30 p.m.
Sentinel 0 3 - 3
Flathead 1 1 - 2
F - Malia Ozegovich, 7:00
S - Kennedy Fulbright (Jess Bixby), 52:00
S - Fulbright (Kelly Umbaugh), 57:00
F - Ozegovich (Chelsea Shuman), 62:00
S - Fulbright (Callie Cattaneo), 78:00
Shots on goal - Sentinel 11, Flathead 9; Goalie saves - Sentinel 7, Flathead 10 (Karli Kusler); Corner kicks - Sentinel 3, Flathead 1; Fouls - Sentinel 4, Flathead 4; Cards - None
Whitefish 5, Polson 0
WHITEFISH - Make it four shutouts in a row.
The Whitefish defense turned in another perfect performance as the Bulldogs earned their fourth-straight shutout and fifth win in a row after defeating Polson in Northern A girls soccer on Saturday.
Whitefish (6-1 overall, 3-0 in conference) kept Polson from registering a shot on goal or a corner kick. The offense came alive in the second half and scored four goals, by Sam Dittman, Natalie Gayner, Megan Danczyk and Presley Pritchard. Charlotte Kamarath had Whitefish's first score in the 29th minute.
"We just passed the ball around and basically played keep away the entire game," Whitefish coach Erin Morrison said.
Whitefish heads to Libby next Saturday.
Polson 0 0 - 0
Whitefish 1 4 - 5
WF - Charlotte Kamarath, 29:00
WF - Sam Dittman 42:00
WF - Natalie Gayner, 65:00
WF - Megan Danczyk, 77:00
WF - Presley Pritchard (Dittman), 78:00
Shots on goal - P 0, WF 32; Goalie saves - P 16, WF 0; Corner kicks - P 0, WF 5; Fouls - P 2, WF 0; Cards - None
Hellgate 1, Glacier 0
MISSOULA - Lisa Dallapiazza scored the lone goal of the match in the opening part of the second half to give Hellgate a Western AA victory over Glacier.
The Wolfpack managed 20 shots but none past goaltender Cara Guderian.
"I thought the kids played well, we just couldn't get the ball in the net," Glacier coach Paul Holmgren said.
Senior keeper Patty Hughes made eight saves for Glacier, which hosts Sentinel on Thursday at 3 p.m.
Glacier 0 0 - 0
Hellgate 0 1 - 1
H - Lisa Dallapiazza, 48:00
Shots on goal - Glacier 20, Hellgate 10; Goalie saves - Glacier 8 (Patty Hughes), Hellgate 12 (Cara Guderian); Corner kicks - Glacier 3, Hellgate 0; Fouls - Glacier 7, Hellgate 5; Cards - Hellgate, yellow
Boys
Hellgate 4, Glacier 0
MISSOULA - A consistent offensive attack led Hellgate to a Western AA shutout victory at home over Glacier.
"Early on the game was pretty tight and I think we came out well for being on the road," Glacier coach Ryan O'Rourke said. "We had a couple good opportunities in the first five minutes and then we let in a goal or two and it ended up being a long day in that sense."
Glacier (1-4) hosts Missoula Sentinel on Thursday at 5 p.m.
Glacier 0 0 - 0
Hellgate 2 2 - 4
H - Casey Higgins (Park Harmon), 13:00
H - Higgins (Harmon), 37:00
H - Steen Shober (Kellen McNamara), 57:00
H - Kieren Huber (Cody Adams), 78:00
Shots on goal - Glacier 7, Hellgate 15. Saves - Glacier (Sean Peters 8), Hellgate (Lucas Wittkopp 6). Corner kicks - Glacier 0, Hellgate 4. Total fouls - Glacier 7, Hellgate 13.
Sentinel 4, Flathead 1
Sentinel brought the pressure on offense and notched four goals en route to a Western AA victory over the Braves at Kidsports Complex.
"The corner kicks tell the tale; we played in our defensive half quite a bit," Flathead coach Chris Putzler said. "The important thing is we were getting some attacks going and everyone continues to work hard all the time. That's huge."
Flathead senior co-captain Hunter Madich came away with the Braves' lone score in the 67th minute.
"He leads with his effort and his enthusiasm," Putzler said of Madich. "He's very deserving of being a captain."
Flathead (0-4) hosts Missoula Hellgate on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m.
Sentinel 2 2 - 4
Flathead 0 1 - 1
S - Aaron Lebsack, 38:00
S - Nick Propp (Jordan Byland), 39:00
S - Byland, 56:00
S - Byland (Clint Mendenhall), 62:00
F - Hunter Madich (free kick), 67:00
Shots on goal - Sentinel 13, Flathead 8; Goalie saves - Sentinel 3 (David Resner), Flathead 9 (Lander Crissman); Corner kicks - Sentinel 7, Flathead 1; Fouls - Sentinel 7, Flathead 7; Cards - Sentinel, yellow