Brisendine goal gives Glacier its first state soccer title
The Glacier Wolfpack girls soccer team poses with their trophy for winning the State AA title, the first ever in program history, Thursday in Helena. Glacier defeated Helena 1-0. (Gary Marshall/BMG Photos)
HELENA — Taylor Brisendine got Glacier’s first goal of the season and then its last — she one-timed a pass just before halftime and the Wolfpack made it stand up Thursday for a 1-0 win over Helena, and a State AA girls’ soccer championship.
Brisendine, a senior who missed much of last season with a leg injury, scored in stoppage time at Seibel Fields.
“We got a foul and one of our star defenders, Kenzie Williams, kicked it over the defense. I tracked it down and one-touched it into the right-bottom part of the goal,” Brisendine said. “It was a free kick and it went past their defense and they missed it.”
Brisendine didn’t, and ended up completing a dream season: It was her second goal of the playoffs and seventh overall this fall; Glacier went 14-4 and won its first soccer title in the school’s 14-year history.
“It’s super awesome,” Brisendine said. “I think it was just an amazing opportunity to be able to come back and play this season.
“My sister is a freshman (Reagan had four playoff goals) and I was super excited to play with her, and play with these girls I’ve competed with since I was like 5 years old. We’ve been telling people we were going to be good our senior year, and everything led up to that. It’s a pretty amazing feeling.”
“She was a force to be reckoned with,” ninth-year Glacier coach Brenden Byrd said. “She’s a senior, she’s going to do everything she can to bring home this title. Every single girl did that for us.”
The Wolfpack had to weather the obligatory late-game charge by the Bengals (14-4), who had won their two regular-season meetings with the Pack, 2-0 and 3-0.
“Helena High really took control of the game at the end,” Byrd said. “Our back line again really stood up.”
Byrd singled out Williams — along with Kate Sheldon, Mickaela Santa and Ellie Keller — and not just for her assist.
“Kenzie Williams should be player of the year,” he said. “All year long she’s held us together. Tonight she showed she’s one of the best center-backs we’ve had in our history.”
The win gets the Byrd brothers halfway to their goal of two state titles: O’Brien Byrd takes the Columbia Falls boys to unbeaten Whitefish for the State A title Saturday at 11 a.m.
“That’d be great,” Brenden said. “I’m just ecstatic. I’m living on Cloud Nine. This is crazy.”
Brisendine was on the sidelines in 2019 when Glacier advanced to the AA semifinals. Thursday she got that one big, final tally.
“It went up and over. Taylor just took a simple touch and buried it in the net,” Byrd said. “It was a beautiful goal. It’s what dreams of a state championship look like.”