AA soccer playoffs: Glacier girls stay alive in AA state

A day after being eliminated from state title contention, the Glacier girls bounced back with a 2-0 win over Missoula Sentinel at the Class AA state soccer tournament Friday at Kidsports Complex.

An aggressive start yielded two goals from Anna Deleray in the first 10 minutes and Glacier held on to extend its season, securing a spot in today’s fifth-place game against Billings Skyview.

Glacier lost 2-1 to Bozeman the previous day, and Deleray said her team was anxious to put that loss behind it with a fast start.

“Everyone was so mad after that loss,” Deleray said. “We felt we should’ve won. We were right in that game.”

“I think we all channeled our anger and frustration from the last game into this game today,” goalkeeper Shaniya Carey added.

A loss to Sentinel would’ve ended the Wolfpack’s season, but coach Brenden Byrd said his seniors refused to go out losers.

“This absolutely shows the heart of this team,” he said. “They refuse to give up. We put a lot of different people in, they played in different spots and worked their hearts out. Led by a leader like Anna Deleray, but then followed by every senior out there.”

Sentinel (9-4-2) shutout Glacier (6-8-1) 2-0 in both of their regular season meetings, but the Wolfpack had little trouble breaking down the Sentinel defense this time around.

Glacier midfielder Zoe Breeding played a through ball to Kendall Halliburton to spring the forward on a breakaway in the fifth minute, but Halliburton took a long dribble and Sentinel goalkeeper Jessica Henning charged to prevent a shot.

Glacier didn’t have long to think about the wasted chance. A minute later, Halliburton played a through ball to Deleray, who struck a left-footed shot into the far side of the net from the left edge of the 18-yard box.

Halliburton played through to Deleray again in the 9th minute, and Deleray took a touch around the goalkeeper and fired into the open net.

“Kendall and I really came together this year,” Deleray said. “We’ve figured out how each other play and are working off each other. That was a huge part of this game. We both knew the other person was going to be making those runs. She’s quick, she’s smart, she knows what she’s doing, so it’s great that we’ve been able to connect so well.”

Sentinel settled in around the 20-minute mark and outpossessed Glacier the rest of the first half, but the Wolfpack still had the better chances. Breeding got her leg on a cross from Alysha Smith in the 25th minute, but Henning made the save. Deleray sparked a counter-attack in the 35th minute with a long, diagonal pass to Kaci Purdy on the left wing, but Purdy’s shot missed wide.

Sentinel’s Bri Olson put a shot on frame just before the end of the half, but Carey made the save at the near post.

“I think they were ready to play, but they weren’t really expecting us to come out so hard because of the two games that they played against us in the regular season,” Carey said. “I think they underestimated us and weren’t ready for how intense we were playing.”

Sentinel opened the second half with more vigor and nearly scored in the 47th minute when Olson fired just over the crossbar from 15 yards out. Sentinel got its best chance five minutes later, but Carey tipped Jessica Bixby’s shot from the edge of the 6-yard box over the crossbar.

The Spartans continued to pressure Glacier the rest of the game, making Byrd nervous on the sideline. Byrd compared the last 20 minutes to the end of Glacier’s playoff victory over Flathead a week earlier when Glacier was also nursing a 2-0 lead and ended up conceding a late goal.

“We don’t play where we hunker down,” he said. “We’ve never hunkered down in a game and they started hunkering down like they did in the Flathead game, and that worried us. We held strong and I’m glad we got away with it, but Sentinel brought it.”

While Sentinel had most of the possession down the stretch, Glacier’s defense preserved the shutout by keeping the face of the goal clear inside the 18-yard box.

“I think my defense was really solid today,” Carey said. “There was a couple times where we got a little bit frantic, but once we had the ball stopped and we just calmed down and were talking to each other more, we were just really solid.”

Deleray picked up a yellow card in the 50th minute and was pulled from the game to ensure she didn’t receive a second card.

Glacier will conclude its season today against Skyview, which will be without leading scorer Caylin Cathey, who received two yellow cards in Skyview’s consolation win over Helena Capital. Cathey netted six goals and contributed six assists during the regular season.

Glacier plays today at 10 a.m. at Kidsports Complex.

Missoula Sentinel00—0

Glacier20—2

Gla - Anna Deleray (assist Kendall Halliburton), 6:00

Gla - Deleray (Halliburton), 9:00

Shots - Sentinel 10, Glacier 12. Saves - Sentinel 6 (Jessica Henning), Glacier 3 (Shaniya Carey). Yellow cards - Glacier 1. Red cards - none.

Billings Senior 2, 

Helena High 1

Defending state champion Billings Senior booked a return trip to the state title game with a semifinal win over Helena.

Senior will face Bozeman in today’s state title game at 12:30 p.m. Helena will take on Great Falls C.M. Russell in the third-place game at 10 a.m.

Billings Senior11—2

Helena High10—1

Hel - Callie Kanthack, 8:00

Sen - Maddy Emerick, 19:00

Sen - Morgan Sulser, 51:00

Shots - Senior 16, Helena 5. Saves - Senior 6 (Clancee Ferrin), Helena 15 (Shanna Floerschinger). Yellow cards - none. Red cards - none.

Bozeman 0 (SO win), Great Falls CMR 0

After 100 minutes of scoreless soccer, Bozeman bested CMR in a penalty kick shootout to advance to the state title game.

CMR00—0

Bozeman00—0 

(won in penalty shootout)

Shots - CMR 7, Bozeman 11. Saves - CMR 7 (Gwen Malisani), Bozeman 4 (Devan Murfitt). Yellow cards - none. Red cards - none.

Billings Skyview 2, Helena Capital 0

Caylin Cathey and Jessica Spang each scored for Skyview in the second half to eliminate Capital from state play.

Helena Capital00—0

Billings Skyview02—2

Skyview - Caylin Cathey, time NA

Skyview - Jessica Spang, time NA

Shots - Capital 4, Skyview 3. Saves - Capital 4 (Kyra Dorvall), Skyview 3 (Annie Warner). Yellow cards - Skyview 2. Red cards - Skyview 1 (Caylin Cathey).