Crosstown soccer: Flathead, Glacier have lots to play for

Both the Glacier and Flathead girls soccer teams hope to strengthen their chances of hosting a playoff game when they meet at noon today at Glacier High School.

Glacier (4-4) sits third in the Western AA standings with 12 points while Flathead (3-3-1) is two points back in a tie with Missoula Hellgate for fourth. Only seeds 2-4 get to host playoff games that determine the state tournament field, so at least one of those three will have to hit the road when the postseason rolls around.

“I think a lot of teams are in a good position (to host a playoff game),” Flathead girls coach Cory Wilson said. “It’s been a very competitive conference from top to bottom. We see that as a very realistic goal for our team to be able to accomplish.”

A win against Glacier could prove crucial considering the Bravettes still have games against first-place Helena High and second-place Missoula Sentinel on the schedule. Glacier also sees today’s game as an opportunity to strengthen its hold on a top-4 spot.

“It would hold us really strong heading into playing a tough Hellgate team as well as traveling to Helena,” Glacier girls coach Brenden Byrd.

Glacier’s offense is led by senior Kendall Halliburton. An all-state selection a year ago, Halliburton has six goals already this season and has the speed and finishing ability to carve up opposing defenses, but Byrd said she’s not Glacier’s only weapon.

“A lot of teams put a ton of emphasis on Kendall and they forget that we have firepower in the midfield and new and upcoming players on the wings,” he said.

Central midfielder Katie Thomas has three goals, including the game-winner in Glacier’s 1-0 win over Flathead earlier this season and sophomore wing Olivia Malchi has scored twice.

While keeping Halliburton in check is a concern for Flathead, Wilson said solving Glacier’s defense is an equally difficult challenge.

“Their center backs, Ally Staats and Mckayle Dennehy, are phenomenal, and Amy Braig is a great goalkeeper,” Wilson said. “Those kids are tough to get around.”

Flathead’s offense has been helped by the emergence of senior forward Anna Milheim, who has scored a team-leading four goals this season. Milheim missed most of last season with a torn posterior cruciate ligament in her knee.

“Anna brings a real intelligent game to our offense,” Wilson said. “She’s really great in the box, she knows where to be at the right time, when to time her runs and has a knack for getting the ball. We look for her to continue to be a scoring threat for us.”

Senior forward Paige Birky and junior midfielder Meredith Wilson each have two goals for the Bravettes this season.

Flathead leads the all-time crosstown series with a record of 10-3-3, but Glacier has won the last two.

While the girls looking to improve their playoff seeds, the boys squads are both looking for their first wins. Flathead (0-6-1) and Glacier (0-7-1) tied 1-1 when they met earlier this season and neither team has won since.

Flathead hasn’t won a game since Oct. 17, 2009 and is 0-45-2 since, but coach Dan Ferguson sees an opportunity to end that streak today.

“I think this is a great chance to end that losing streak,” he said. “When we played Glacier (earlier this year) it was our first game of the season. We played decent soccer for it being the first game of the season and we’ve only improved since then. We’ve had a couple games where we’ve been blown out against Big Sky and Hellgate, the top teams in our conference, but everyone else we’ve played close.”

Seniors Andrew Wilson and Haakon Sande each have two goals apiece, but Flathead has only scored five goals total while it has allowed 29. Ferguson said he’s seen improvement in practice and hopes it will begin showing in games.

“We had a weakness at the start of the season that we’ve been turning into a strength, which is our speed of play,” he said. “Our speed of play the past week has been night and day compared to the beginning of the season.

“We started the season getting 1-2 shots on goal a game and now in practice we’re lighting the nets on fire with shots.”

Glacier has a slightly better goal differential (8 for, 27 against) than its rival.

The Wolfpack lead the all-time series with a record of 10-2-1.

The boys game kicks off at 10 a.m. at Glacier High School.