Crosstown soccer arrives early on '13 schedule

Both teams will have new coaches when the Flathead and Glacier boys soccer teams renew their crosstown rivalry today at 6 p.m. at Kidsports Complex.

Glacier coach Cody Fierro starred at Flathead as a student and spent time with the Braves as an assistant coach from 2008-2010, but he’ll be on the opposite sideline after taking over for previous Glacier coach Ryan O’Rourke.

Flathead coach Dan Ferguson came to Kalispell from Bozeman, where he was technical director for the Bozeman Blitzz youth soccer club and worked with many of the players from Bozeman’s boys and girls high school teams, which both won state titles last season.

Glacier leads the all-time series 10 to 2, but Flathead played the Wolfpack tight last season, losing by scores of 3-2 and 4-2. Glacier lost its season-opener against Missoula Sentinel on Tuesday, but today’s game will be the first of the season for Ferguson’s Braves.

“I can’t think of a better way to start the season,” Ferguson said. “Both teams are excited and jacked, not only for their season to begin, but to play the crosstown rivalry. For my guys it’s been a source of motivation.”

Flathead enters the game in search of its first win since 2009. Senior midfielders and co-captains Caleb Buxton and Andrew Wilson will look to provide a steady presence in the middle of the pitch and Ferguson said his team’s back line should also be a strength.

“We’ve spent a large part of our time working on the offensive side of the ball, but we’ve been very meticulous on the defensive side,” Ferguson said. “We’ve got a couple guys that I really trust and I think they will play well.”

Fierro said Glacier’s defense broke down in its 4-1 loss to Sentinel, but he thinks that experience will be helpful going forward.

“We’ve been working on everything that fell apart in that game,” he said. “Keeping possession of the ball, looking for those opportunities to attack and being patient. Sentinel took that all away from us, so that’s what we’re looking to improve.”

The Wolfpack should have a potent offensive with junior co-captain Kade Deleray and sophomore Colton Becker at forward. Becker scored five goals last season to lead all returning players.

“Hopefully the two of them can get some magic going,” Fierro said.

Senior co-captain Connor Brandon leads Glacier’s defense from the sweeper position and senior goalkeeper Lonnie Sherman is back in net after missing most of last season with an injury. Fierro said his senior class has also received a boost from midfielder Skyler Rieke, who transferred from Stillwater Christian.

“As long as we do what we need to work on, I’m pretty confident that we can follow through with our gameplan,” Fierro said.

The Flathead and Glacier girls will also be in action today, with kickoff set for 4 p.m. at Kidsports Complex. Flathead has a 10-2-3 record in the all-time series, but the Glacier girls turned the tide last season with a 2-1 win in a playoff game that sent the Wolfpack to the state tournament.

Glacier returns four starters from a year ago, including leading scorer Kendall Halliburton. The all-state forward scored eight goals last season and scored twice in the Wolfpack’s 4-2 season-opening loss to Sentinel on Tuesday.

“Kendall looks great,” second-year Glacier coach Brenden Byrd said. “I think a lot of teams are going to emphasize stopping Kendall and forget about the other threats we have. I think if we can utilize everyone, everybody will have great chances to score goals.”

Junior Ally Staats is the lone returning starter on defense, but Byrd said the back line has looked strong in practice.

“I think our defense is extremely strong,” Byrd said. “(Tuesday) we had a couple lapses.

“We came out extremely flat. Give a lot of credit to Sentinel, they’re a very good, organized team, but we went away from our 1-2 touch game and lost focus.”

Flathead has a more experienced squad with six starters back from last season, but it has a new coach in Cory Wilson. Wilson spent eight years as an assistant under former coach Scott Warnell before accepting the head job in December.

“They’re playing in a little bit different formation, but they certainly have high expectations for themselves,” Wilson said of his team. “They were pretty young last year and obviously we’ve got an extra year under our belt this year. That year of experience certainly helps.”

Last year’s second-leading scorer, senior Paige Birky, returns to lead the offense after scoring five goals and senior Jacquelyn Merrill will be a key cog in the midfield.

“I think we’ve got great leadership this year,” Wilson said. “We’ve got a handful of good senior leaders and we’re getting some good leadership out of the underclassmen.”