Crosstown soccer: Bravettes blank Wolfpack at Legends
<p>Glacier's Destiny Dachs and Flathead's Clara Vandenbosch battle for a ball during the second half of the Bravette's 2-0 win at Legends Stadium on Saturday. (Aaric Bryan/Daily Inter Lake)</p>
A strong Flathead defense shut down Glacier on Saturday at Legends Stadium, and one of its own capped the crosstown soccer game with a spectacular goal to lift the Bravettes to a 2-0 Western AA conference victory.
The Bravettes, who went ahead on a late first half goal, maintained possession in the Glacier end for much of the second half and put an exclamation point on the game with three minutes to play. Senior defender Ashley Lincoln launched a strike from 35 yards out, netting a goal inside the far post to score the first tally of her career.
“I called for it and I saw the keeper was out, so I bent over the ball and struck it,” Lincoln said. “It was awesome. I’ve been waiting for that for four years.”
The goal was the cap on a dominant performance by Flathead, which outshot Glacier 10-5 and forced Glacier keeper Amy Braig into 14 saves. The Bravettes had six corner kicks to Glacier’s two, holding the Wolfpack out of scoring range for most of the game.
“Our kids fought, they battled,” Bravettes coach Cory Wilson said. “Our defense has a couple of shutouts in a row now.
“They’re tough kids, a ton of pride. They’re playing with a lot of confidence right now.”
Flathead took the lead late in the first half after a back and forth first 38 minutes. Bravettes midfielder Stephanie Wilson, who would assist on the final tally, ripped a shot from 25 yards off the crossbar. Flathead corralled the rebound and sent a pass into the box, where after a few stops, senior forward Jaymee Siler netted a goal with 20 seconds to play in the half.
“(Wilson’s) hit a lot of crossbars in the last four years,” Wilson said. “The kids didn’t quit on the ball. I think we had three or four more kids touch it after that point. It was a real meaningful goal for us to have a little momentum going into halftime.”
Glacier’s best chance came early in the second half, when after a throw in deep in the final third, the Wolfpack played a shot into the hands of the Flathead keeper, who bobbled the collection and left an opportunity, only for the Bravettes defense to clear the ball from danger.
The other Wolfpack chances came far between and were sent wide and out of harm.
“We were caught on our heels a little bit and we had a hard time recovering from it,” Glacier coach Brenden Byrd said.
“Amy Braig had a great game back there. Cadie Williams played outstanding for us today. We had great play up top, at times, when we combo-ed, but we just couldn’t find that goal to get the momentum going for us.”
Flathead improved its all-time record against the Wolfpack to 11-3-4.
Flathead 1 1 — 2
Glacier 0 0 — 0
F - Jaymee Siler, 39:00
F – Ashley Lincoln (Stephanie Wilson), 86:00
Shots on goal—Flathead 10, Glacier 5. Goalie saves—Flathead 4 (Lilly Sherman), Glacier 14 (Amy Braig). Corner kicks—Flathead 6, Glacier 2. Fouls—Flathead 7, Glacier 7. Cards—none.