Wolfpack proud of work on pitch
Glacier boys soccer was miles away from this point last season, even as it enters a playoff game against a familiar opponent.
A year after finishing the season winless, the Wolfpack finished within a few points of second place in the Western AA conference and is hosting Missoula Big Sky today in a state playoff game, attempting to make the state tournament for the first time since 2011.
The Eagles were in second place last year when they ended the Wolfpack’s season with a 5-0 shellacking in the playoff game, scoring as many goals as Glacier had shots.
That was a year ago.
With a new season came a new coach and a new perspective. The past was over. This season Glacier was going to have fun and help build the program into a winner. Results would come later.
“They’ve bought into things since day one,” Glacier coach Ryan Billiet said. “That’s going back to when I met with them in April and when we started training this summer.
“They’ve done the work to get themselves there physically. They’re confident. They’re just a great bunch of guys. We’ve really just come together as a group.”
Billiet came from a powerhouse Class A program in Whitefish which has built itself into a perennial state championship contender with a focus on conditioning and fundamentals. That positive vibe didn’t take long to stick with the Wolfpack.
“We have a different mentality,” senior forward Brandon Purdy said.
“That’s winning games. This year we’ve turned it around. We’re starting a new legacy for the team. It’s about the building blocks and making this program even better.”
The Wolfpack started the season on a roll, winning or tying seven of its first eight games of the season. It wasn’t until a late string of losses that Glacier fell out of the race for the top seed.
Entering today’s game against Big Sky, the Wolfpack has three of the top six scorers in the conference and two of the top three behind senior captains Purdy and Kade Deleray and scoring leader junior Colton Becker.
Glacier has won and tied in two matches with Big Sky this season and has beaten every team on its schedule outside of top-ranked Hellgate, which it has lost to by the slimmest of margins.
The Wolfpack is back on the right path and it’s showing on the field.
“Last year going into [the playoff] we weren’t that confident,” Deleray said.
“We hadn’t won a game yet, so we weren’t really looking forward. This year we know what we can do and we know we can make it to state. We’re confident. This year, every game we go into it thinking we’re the team to beat, we’re the dominant team.”
The results showed on the field nearly immediately, with a nonconference sweep in a preseason tournament in Great Falls. Becker scored six goals in the series and any memories of last season were far in the distance.
With a win today, the Wolfpack will be on the road again, this time to the state tournament on the same field where they kicked last season’s frustrations away for good.
“We’re trying to make a player centered philosophy, letting the captains lead by example, ” Billiet said. “They’ve done a wonderful job.
“Tomorrow’s all about this team, that moment. We started the season in Great Falls, we want to end it in Great Falls.”