SOCCER: Thursday crosstown draws focus on postseason
<p>Flathead's Jordan Buxton (left) battles Glacier's Rohit Tappeta (right) for possession in the first crosstown match of the season on Sept. 15, at Legends Stadium (Aaric Bryan/Daily Inter Lake)</p>
These are heady days for the Flathead Braves.
Long a punching bag for the Western AA — the Braves endured three straight winless seasons from 2010-12 and won a combined five times in 72 tries in the six years preceding Nate Evans’ first year as head coach in 2015 — Flathead might be the hottest team in the state right now.
The Braves (5-4-3, 4-3-3 Western AA) are unbeaten in their last seven matches, are just one win back of third place in the conference standings and enter Thursday’s second crosstown match at Glacier in an unfamiliar position — as favorites against their Kalispell rivals.
Glacier (5-7-1, 4-6-1) is currently fifth in the league and will close out its regular season Thursday, trying to play spoiler the way the Braves have several times in recent years. Despite the Wolfpack’s relative strength in the standings, Flathead is 4-1-2 in the last seven crosstown matches, including a 2-1 win at Legends Stadium on Sept. 15.
The Wolfpack leads the all-time series 11-6-2.
The match will kick off at 5 p.m. at Glacier High School.
GIRLS
The Glacier girls (2-7-2) stormed Flathead at Legends Stadium earlier this season, scoring a school record six goals in a 6-1 rout of the Bravettes (0-10-0).
Neither team has had much success since, with the Wolfpack coming up with a tie against Helena amidst a string of five losses, the last a 5-0 conference game to Missoula Sentinel on Tuesday. Flathead has lost all four games since, failing to score in its last three matches, and has yet to tally a victory this season.
Cadie Williams, who scored a school-record four goals in the first match and netted a hat trick in the first 12 minutes of play, is tied for third in the Western AA conference with 10 goals this season and leads the Wolfpack with 26 points.
Zina Loudermilk leads the Bravettes with two goals this season, while Sara Clarin tallied the lone goal for Flathead against the Wolfpack this season.
Both could use a boost heading into the postseason, with a familiar draw waiting once they get there. After Flathead hosts Missoula Sentinel on Saturday, the two teams will meet again for spot in the postseason play-in matches, both teams already locked into their positions in the standings. Awaiting the winner of the play-in is likely the same Sentinel team that each will have played in the final week of the regular season.
The match is scheduled to kick off at 3 p.m. at Glacier High School.