Boys soccer: Braves winless no more

Haakon Sande’s second-half goal lifted the Flathead boys soccer team to its first win in nearly four years as the Braves downed crosstown-rival Glacier 1-0 Saturday at Glacier High School.

The win snapped a 47-match winless streak and prompted emotional reactions usually reserved for postseason victories when the full-time whistle blew.

“It’s a really big deal for us,” senior midfielder Andrew Wilson said.

“It’s an honor to be with these guys when we did it. I thought it was well-fought, well-played by our team and it’s well deserved.”

Flathead’s seniors were in eighth grade the last time the Braves won a boys soccer game, a 2-0 victory over Missoula Big Sky on Oct. 17, 2009. Since then Flathead had gone 0-45-2, a stretch that included three winless seasons and six consecutive losses against Glacier.

“I’ve been dreaming for four years to win a game, and to beat Glacier, beat them in shots, possession, beat them in every way of the game. Winning in general is awesome, but beating Glacier is so much more (satisfying),” Flathead senior Caleb Buxton said.

Flathead (1-6-1) tied Glacier (0-8-1) at one goal apiece when the Kalispell high schools played earlier this season on Sept. 5 and the Braves knew they had a chance to end the streak before they took the field on Saturday. Coach Dan Ferguson called the crosstown game “a great chance to end that losing streak,” in an interview with the Daily Inter Lake Friday evening and Flathead never lost confidence, even when Glacier created two dangerous scoring chances toward the end of the first half.

“(At halftime) I told them the streak ends today,” Ferguson said. “We played a very good first half, we made some tactical adjustments with how we wanted to play through our midfield, but really it was just keeping the motivation and focus high. This is the day that we turn our program around and we have a fresh beginning.”

Flathead nearly broke the deadlock in the 53rd minute when Kaleb Frame fired a shot from the edge of the 18-yard box, but Glacier goalkeeper Lonnie Sherman turned it away and jumped on the rebound.

The breakthrough came in the 60th minute when Eli Frandsen played a cross from the right corner and Sande one-touched the ball past Sherman.

“Every day in practice we were practicing just a mile away from our opponents and it was all for this moment,” Sande said.

“Just to finish right there with that goal was, I don’t even know how to describe it.”

Flathead nearly added to its lead four minutes later when Sande won possession in his offensive third and played a ball to Buxton inside the 18-yard box, but his shot was saved by Sherman.

Flathead had to ward off a determined effort by Glacier the final 10 minutes. Glacier forward Kade Deleray played a ball to Carsen Linrude at the far post with 8:20 to go, but Flathead left back Carter Warnell won a challenge and the ball went out for a goal kick. Glacier sweeper Connor Brandon chipped a free kick from midfield into the 18-yard box, but Flathead goalkeeper Chandler Escalante left his line to make the save.

Glacier’s last chance came in the 78th minute when Skyler Rieke lined up a 40-yard free kick, but his lob was too low and it went out of bounds for a goal kick.

“Normally we don’t get options, but this game we actually got a lot of options and we just didn’t finish it, that final touch, that final ball,” Glacier coach Cody Fierro said. “Some of our shots, we had one-on-ones with the goalie and it went straight to the keeper. It couldn’t have been a more imperfect shot.

“Flathead just didn’t give up. We had little mistakes, our confidence went down and they just couldn’t come back from it.”

Flathead had the early momentum as Buxton’s speed on the left flank and Wilson’s runs through the middle created gaps in Glacier’s defense, but the Braves were unable to capitalize. They thought they had scored in the 22nd minute when Sande found the back of the net but he was flagged offside. Deleray had a pair of chances inside the 18-yard box late in the first half, but his first shot flew over the crossbar from 12 yards out and his second missed high from 10 yards.

“I just want to give credit to all the players,” Ferguson said.

“It is difficult to be part of a program as a player with the track (record) of not many wins, but there was a lot of faith and these boys have been working so hard in training in order to turn this program around. I’m especially excited for my seniors because this is their first win as Flathead Braves and they fully deserve it.”

Flathead hosts Missoula Sentinel on Tuesday while Glacier is off until Saturday when it plays at Missoula Hellgate.

Flathead 0 1 — 1

Glacier 0 0 — 0

FLATHEAD — Haakon Sande (assist Eli Frandsen), 60:00

Shots on goal — Flathead 3, Glacier 6. Goalie saves — Flathead 5 (Chandler Escalante), Glacier 2 (Lonnie Sherman). Corner kicks — Flathead 1, Glacier 3. Fouls — Flathead 15, Glacier 12. Cards — None.