Game changer

Anna Deleray fired the Glacier girls soccer team into the state tournament for the first time since 2009 with two goals against Flathead in last week’s play-in match, but two months ago, the senior striker wasn’t sure she’d play at all this season.

A stress reaction in her foot put Deleray on crutches last spring, but she recovered in time to play soccer over the summer. Right after practice began in August, the injury flared up, putting her senior season in jeopardy.

“I didn’t think I was coming back at all, so I was devastated,” Deleray said. “Soccer is my favorite thing. I couldn’t believe I was missing my senior year.”

But she didn’t miss her senior year. A few weeks into the season, Deleray learned her foot was healing and she had a shot to return to the field.

“The glimmer of hope came back,” she said.

Armed with a powerful right foot and a charming smile, Deleray returned for Glacier’s eighth game and impacted the team with both her scoring prowess and her happy-go-lucky attitude. She scored five goals in six games, while quickly becoming a team leader.

“You give Anna an inch inside the 18 (yard box), she’s going to punish you,” coach Brenden Byrd said. “The players that want to be the star on the team, the players that want to be game-changers, they look up to her as that type of role model. I think that’s become the big thing. And she’s a morale-booster. If she doesn’t score a goal, she passes off to somebody that does.”

An all-state performer as a junior, Deleray was a rare bright spot on a team that finished 0-12-1, but her injury forced Glacier to adapt without her the first half of this season.

Under a new coaching staff and without Deleray, the Wolfpack lost its first four games before stopping the streak with a 4-0 win over Missoula Hellgate, its first victory in nearly two years. Then Glacier won its next game, a 3-1 victory over Missoula Big Sky, and despite Deleray’s absence, the Glacier girls were no longer losers.

“We knew we could do it without her because we’ve got a lot of other strengths as a team,” senior midfielder Lauren Waldenberg said. “But it was definitely going to be hard.”

While Glacier learned how to win without Deleray, her return made the Wolfpack a contender. After a 2-5 start, Glacier went 3-2-1 with Deleray on the field and proved it could compete with the best teams in the state, as evidenced by a 1-1 draw against unbeaten Helena High School, Western AA’s top team.

“When Anna returned, I think we competed at a higher level,” Byrd said.

A strong, physical player who’s tough to knock off the ball, Deleray stepped into the lineup and combined with junior Kendall Halliburton to give Glacier a potent partnership up front. Halliburton scored a hat trick in Deleray’s first game back, while Deleray netted a goal in each of her first three games.

“I had to come back in and do what the team needed me to do, whatever I could do to help,” Deleray said. “My goal obviously was to score some goals. I’m a forward, that’s what I do, but as a team, just whatever I can to make sure we can get to state.”

This year’s state tournament is in Kalispell, which added extra incentive for the Glacier girls to make their first postseason appearance in three years.

“We didn’t want to be working concessions at our own state tournament and not be playing,” Deleray said.

Byrd said Deleray’s personality made it easy for her to step back into the team.

“It is hard to step back in there, but the players love her,” he said. “She’s such a friendly person. She’s friends with everyone on the team and it was a pretty easy fit to come back in.”

That’s also made it easy for her to be assertive when necessary.

“On the field she’ll tell you what she wants, and she’s not nice about it sometimes,” Waldenberg said. “She wants the ball, so you give it to her. She can put it into the net, so why wouldn’t you give it to her?”

It took awhile for Deleray to regain her fitness and she said she’s only now hitting her stride, a scary proposition for her opponents at the state tournament given her most recent performance.

With a spot at state on the line, Deleray struck twice in a play-in game against Flathead to help Glacier to a 2-0 win. Her first goal came in the 3rd minute when she dribbled up the right flank and scored from just inside the 18-yard-box. Her second came shortly after halftime when a Flathead defender gave her too much space and Deleray fired into the upper-left corner from 20 yards.

“About now I’m starting to feel like I’m back where I was before I got hurt again,” she said.

Other players have also stepped up, giving Glacier, the fourth seed from Western AA, a plucky underdog feel heading into the postseason.

“I think our big thing was we struggled in our midfield early on,” Byrd said. “I was always quoting how great the defense was, but we had these hidden gems in our midfield and we finally found those players. Once we control the middle of the field, everything clicks.”

Glacier (5-7-1) opens the state tournament today against Bozeman (11-1-0).

“I’m expecting we’ll go in there, be competitive, and I think we can beat teams,” Deleray said.

Regardless of what happens at state, Deleray considers the season a success.

“On a personal basis, getting back on the field is a huge success,” she said. “And then as a team, winning a game was our first success, then moving up from there and winning a playoff game, and now getting to state is a major success.”