Girls soccer: Key victory for Bravettes over Wolfpack

Flathead put itself in position to host a playoff soccer game and leapfrogged Glacier in the Western AA standings with a 1-0 win over the Wolfpack Saturday at Glacier High School.

The Bravettes set the tone early by hogging much of the possession and Paige Birky broke through with a goal in the 11th minute. The win avenged a 1-0 loss to Glacier on Sept. 5 and moved Flathead (4-3-1) up to third place in the conference standings with four games remaining.

“I think it just gives us even more motivation to work hard and earn our spot,” Birky said. “I thought we played well as a squad and I’m proud of our team.”

Glacier (4-4) dropped from third to fourth. The top seed automatically qualifies for the state tournament while seeds 2-4 host playoff games.

“The first 20 minutes or so of the game I thought our mid(fielders) played great,” Flathead coach Cory Wilson said.

“As a whole team we just possessed really well. I think we caught them off guard a little bit, maybe from the start we had, the way we were possessing. Definitely the first half, the first 20 minutes, we did a great job of possession and playing team defense. That’s probably the best I’ve seen our mids defend. They were playing real good group defense. Their structure was pretty good, especially in the first half.”

Flathead controlled the midfield much of the game, with central midfielders Jacquelyn Merrill and Joey Thiel winning balls in the middle third and keeping Glacier from setting up its attack. Flathead defender Amanda Buxton kept a lid on Glacier all-state forward Kendall Halliburton and sweeper Stephanie Wilson cleaned up any balls that leaked through the midfield.

“What we’ve been working on a lot in practice is shutting down the midfield and making sure we mark the other team,” Merrill said.

“Stay with our marks, don’t give them any space to move the ball.”

Flathead created its first chance less than five minutes into the game when Thiel played a through ball to Birky, who shot wide of the far post from six yards out. Birky got a touch on a corner kick from Merrill five minutes later but Glacier fullback Annie King blocked the shot before it reached goalkeeper Amy Braig.

Birky found her scoring touch in the 11th minute when she finished from eight yards out after Glacier’s attempted clearance landed at her feet.

Merrill put a shot on frame in the 14th minute and Birky found the back of the net in the 17th, but she was well offside and the goal was nullified.

Glacier won more possession as the half wore on but didn’t challenge Flathead goalkeeper Zoe Zander. Its best chance of the half came in the 32nd minute, but Wilson dispossessed Carly McDonald inside the 18-yard box before she could get a shot off.

Neither team scored in the second half but both had chances. Halliburton played a ball to Mikey Staats on the counter attack in the 50th minute, but Staats’ shot was headed away by Wilson. Flathead nearly added to its lead in the 56th minute when Merrill’s corner kick found Alexa May, but she headed wide of the far post. Flathead had another dangerous chance seven minutes later when Thiel’s flip throw-in arched inside the 6-yard box but Braig caught the ball before Birky could put her head on it.

Flathead pulled a striker off the field in favor of an extra midfielder with 11:30 remaining and ground out the clock ping-ponging the ball around the middle third.

“I think them dropping so far back defensively and playing such a defensive game like that really threw the girls out of that open-field attack,” Glacier coach Brenden Byrd said. “Stephanie Wilson did a great job of clearing everything out that even came close. It wasn’t even 50-50 balls, it was just clear it, so the girls kind of had to re-adjust and it’s pretty hard to adjust on the fly like that.”

All four of Flathead’s wins have been clean sheets and coach Wilson said he was pleased with his team’s effort at both ends of the field.

“I’m just super happy with the way Paige Birky played up front,” he said.

“She made things happen, had opportunities. And Amanda Buxton. I told her she needed to be in Kendall’s back pocket and she shut down a great goal-scorer in Kendall Halliburton. I’m really pleased with how the defense stepped up and kept a clean sheet today.”

Flathead 1 0 — 1

Glacier 0 0 — 0

FLATHEAD — Paige Birky (assist Anna Milheim), 11:00

Shots on goal — Flathead 11, Glacier 12. Goalie saves — Flathead 8 (Zoe Zander), Glacier 10 (Amy Braig). Corner kicks — Flathead 3, Glacier 2. Fouls — Flathead 4, Glacier 8. Cards — None.