Girls soccer: Glacier's season ends with loss to Bruins
The Glacier girls had their chances, but couldn’t find the back of the net, losing 2-0 to Helena Capital in a Class AA play-in soccer match Thursday at Glacier High School.
The Wolfpack (5-8-0) was aggressive all game, and created its fair share of opportunities, but struggled to finish against Capital (4-7-2).
“The ball didn’t drop our way today,” Glacier coach Brenden Byrd said. “Their chances went in today and ours didn’t. That’s the way it goes.”
One of Glacier’s best chances came just six minutes into the game, when senior forward Kendall Halliburton slipped behind the defense and beat the Capital keeper on a challenge at the top of the box. Facing an open net from 15 yards out, Halliburton couldn’t corral the bouncing ball with her left foot and opted to shoot with her right, pulling the chance wide left.
Glacier had chances on corners, getting a good ball into the box in the 17th inches over the head of forward Olivia Malchi. In the 66th, a corner kick found Halliburton near the left post but she couldn’t get enough of a foot on the try to send it in.
“They’re extremely tough,” Byrd said. “It’s hard to break through them.”
“We couldn’t find that final third. We had our close range shots, but they just didn’t go in.”
In the end, it was two Glacier blunders that led to Capital’s victory. Minutes before halftime, a Capital cross into the box deflected off a Glacier defender and into the Wolfpack net to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead. With a shade more than 10 minutes to play in the second half, Glacier’s keeper couldn’t secure a catch and dropped the ball at the feet of an approaching Capital forward. The Bruins’ Keyara McCarthy capitalized on the mistake, burying her first goal of the season to send Capital to the state tournament.
“I think it’s just exciting for the girls to come back for another year and show again that we’re strong,” Byrd said.
Capital 1 1 — 2
Glacier 0 0 — 0
HC — Glacier own goal, 35:00
HC — Keyara McCarthy (unassisted), 69:00
Shots on goal — Capital 18, Glacier 18. Saves — Capital 11, Glacier 10. Corner kicks — Capital 4, Glacier 2. Fouls — Capital 7, Glacier 10. Cards — none.