GIRLS SOCCER: Wolfpack, Bravettes ready for early tussle
By Andy Viano
The Daily Inter Lake
When Glacier and Flathead meet on the pitch tonight at 4 p.m. it will be only the Wolfpack who come in with any game action under their belts in 2015.
Whether that’s a good thing or not remains to be seen.
Glacier lost its opener Tuesday night and comes into the first of two crosstown matches this year plagued by injuries. The Wolfpack was already without senior Carly McDonald, who will likely miss the entire season after suffering a knee injury in the spring, and on Tuesday the injury news got worse. Four players had to leave that match because of injury, including Amy Braig, their senior keeper. Braig took an elbow to the head and was still being evaluated for a possible concussion Wednesday night.
The Bravettes, meanwhile, are healthy but will play together as a group for the first time tonight. Flathead was scheduled to play two matches in Helena last weekend but they were canceled due to the smoky air conditions.
“We’re excited to get out and play a game,” third-year Flathead head coach Cory Wilson said. “We missed not playing preseason games but pretty much everybody did.”
Despite a 4-9-3 record a year ago, Flathead returns plenty of talent, starting with reigning co-Montana Player of the Year Stephanie Wilson at midfield. Wilson led the Bravettes with eight goals a year ago.
Fellow all-state pick Amanda Buxton, another senior, will anchor the backline with classmate Ashley Lincoln. Jaymee Siler and Alexa May, who accounted for seven combined goals in 2014, are back as well for a senior-laden Flathead squad.
“We’ll go the way our seniors go,” Wilson said. “We’ve got a lot of solid pieces in a lot of areas. We’re excited about the strength of our midfield and the experience of our defense.”
Across town, Glacier must not only pick up for a pair of injured seniors, they also need to replace all-state honoree Ally Staats on defense. The Wolfpack were 6-6-4 in 2014 and this year have their first class of seniors who have played exclusively in head coach Brenden Byrd’s program.
“It’s one of those things that’s sad to know (the seniors) will be gone but it’s fun to challenge them and keep them guessing on what’s going next,” Byrd said.
Like the Bravettes, Glacier will rely on a number of seniors in 2015, led by all-conference returnees McKayle Dennehy, Alysha Smith and Braig. The Wolfpack also bring back sophomore Cadie Williams, who led Glacier with seven goals as a freshman.
Glacier went 1-0-1 against their crosstown rivals a year ago and Byrd is hoping for a quick bounce-back from his team less than 48 hours after a season-opening loss to Sentinel.
“This one absolutely feels like a different game,” Byrd said. “The girls have such pride going in. It’s an emotional game but it’s a fun one, too.”