Crosstown soccer: Glacier girls nip Flathead

Katie Thomas’ long-range goal lifted the Glacier girls soccer team to a 1-0 win over crosstown-rival Flathead Thursday at Kidsports Complex.

The sophomore midfielder lofted a shot from 35 yards that carried over the head of Flathead goalkeeper Zoe Zander and fell into the net in the 56th minute.

“It just kind of carried,” Thomas said. “Whatever works, it went in.”

Flathead controlled much of the possession and created a flurry of chances in the final minutes, but Glacier center backs Ally Staats and Mckale Dennehy handled the pressure and goalkeeper Amy Braig scooped up anything that got through.

“The big thing was they were begging,” Glacier coach Brenden Byrd said. “They were playing through balls that our keeper picked up, but they’re a great team. I’m a little nervous to play them again.”

Flathead midfielder Anna Milheim had a chance at an equalizer in 62nd minute, but her 25-yard attempt missed just wide of the near post. Stephanie Wilson had another chance nine minutes later, but her shot rattled off the crossbar.

“It’s pretty unlucky when you dominate time of possession, dominate opportunities, hit crossbars,” Flathead coach Cory Wilson said. “That’s soccer though. The kids came out and played hard. We played our gameplan pretty well. Hand it to Glacier, they hung in there and played great defense and had really solid goalkeeping.”

Byrd said Glacier’s defense looked improved compared to two days earlier when the Wolfpack lost 4-2 to Missoula Sentinel. Staats said the biggest difference was improved communication.

“We had to stay more compact and we had to communicate more,” she said. “You could definitely tell we were really tired at the end. It’s hot out, but our goalie stepped up. She was talking a lot, we were talking.”

Glacier controlled the run of play early, with all-state forward Kendall Halliburton creating a pair of dangerous chances. Halliburton ripped a shot from the edge of the 18-yard-box in the third minute, but Zander managed to tip it over the crossbar. Halliburton played a cross into the 6-yard-box nine minutes later, but Alysha Smith arrived too late to pound it into the net.

Flathead settled down and seized the majority of the possession as the half wore on, but didn’t apply much pressure in its offensive third. The Bravettes’ best chance came in the 16th minute when Meredith Wilson made a run up the right flank and put a shot on target, but Braig made a diving save to keep the game scoreless.

“Definitely a little bit of inexperience working together,” Wilson said.

“We’ve got a couple new starters on the outside, one up front. We tried to cram down the middle way too much when there was a big opportunity to be had on the outside.”

Flathead plays at Missoula Hellgate on Saturday while Glacier is off until Sept. 13 when it hosts Helena Capital.

Glacier 0 1 — 1

Flathead 0 0 — 0

G - Katie Thomas (unassisted), 56:00

Shots - Glacier 8, Flathead 15. Saves - Glacier 10 (Amy Braig), Flathead 5 (Zoe Zander). Corner kicks - Glacier 2, Flathead 8. Fouls - Glacier 10, Flathead 5. Yellow cards - Glacier 1. Red cards - none.

Boys

Flathead 1, Glacier 1

Flathead wasn’t able to end its winless streak dating back to 2009, but it controlled the run of play and overcame a first-half deficit to earn a draw in its season-opener against crosstown-rival Glacier.

Glacier took an early lead when Tommy Briner scored on a counter-attack in the 14th minute, but Haakon Sande knotted the score in the 54th minute.

“I couldn’t be more happy with the performance the boys put in in their first game of the season,” Flathead coach Dan Ferguson said.

“I mean, the effort level was intense the entire game. They were going for every challenge from the start of the game through the end of the game, they were winning 50-50 balls pretty much every single time there was a 50-50 opportunity, and when we received it we were being intelligent with our possession too.”

Flathead senior midfielder Caleb Buxton wasn’t thrilled with the result, but he was happy with his team’s effort.

“It was good,” Buxton said. “I’m a little disappointed we didn’t win, but we’ll definitely get them next time. It was the first game of the season and I don’t think we’ve played a game like that in four years. We controlled midfield, had lots of shots on goal. It was an intense game.”

The game was very physical early with both teams looking to force a fast pace. Flathead created a chance in 13th minute when Sande blew past the defense on the left flank, but his cross was cleared and Glacier struck seconds later when Briner found the back of the net.

Flathead midfielder Andrew Wilson nearly scored an equalizer in the 25th minute with a slaloming run into the heart of the 18-yard-box, but his shot was knocked away by Glacier goalkeeper Lonnie Sherman.

Flathead controlled much of the possession early in the second half and was rewarded when Buxton played the ball to Sande in the middle. Sande took one touch around a Glacier defender and blasted a shot into the lower-right corner of the net.

Sande nearly gave Flathead a lead in the 68th minute but Sherman punched his 18-yard attempt over the crossbar.

Glacier surged late and put a pair of long-range shots on frame but Flathead goalkeeper Chandler Escalante easily saved both attempts.

“Obviously I’m disappointed,” Glacier coach Cody Fierro said.

“I thought we were going to keep it together long enough, but 80 minutes is a long time to keep it solid. The second half we definitely finished strong, the guys played with a lot of heart. I’m proud of them for how hard they worked. We just have some minor things to change.”

Ferguson credited the Flathead fans with creating a great atmosphere.

“They were excited the entire game, even when we went a goal down they were cheering every time we won a ball, and it really infused the players with a ton of energy,” he said.

Flathead plays at Missoula Hellgate on Saturday. Glacier returns to the pitch Sept. 13 with a home game against Helena Capital.

Glacier 1 0 — 1

Flathead 0 1 — 1

G - Tommy Briner (assist Coleman Zauner), 14:00

F - Haakon Sande (Caleb Buxton), 54:00

Shots - Glacier 9, Flathead 14. Saves - Glacier 13 (Lonnie Sherman), Flathead 8 (Chandler Escalante). Corner kicks - Glacier 5, Flathead 3. Fouls - Glacier 14, Flathead 22. Yellow cards - Flathead 3. Red cards - none.