Bravettes bounce Pack in crosstown
Flathead's Mia Stephan (11) readies a shot on goal in the first half against Glacier at Legends Stadium on Thursday, Oct. 6. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Glacier's Calista Wroble (2) battles for possession with Flathead's Mia Stephan (11) and Isla Alexander (8) at Legends Stadium on Thursday, Oct. 6. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Glacier's Bridger Dalla Betta (9) pushes the ball upfield against Flathead's Stephen Gislason (17) at Legends Stadium on Thursday, Oct. 6. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Glacier's Hunter Lisowski (10) scores a goal in the first half against Flathead at Legends Stadium on Thursday, Oct. 6. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Glacier's Karys Camp (15) collides with Flathead goalkeeper Joy Sund in the second half at Legends Stadium on Thursday, Oct. 6. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Flathead's Fiona Coulter (15) pushes the ball upfield against Glacier in the first half at Legends Stadium on Thursday, Oct. 6. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Flathead's Fiona Coulter (15, second from left) celebrates with teammates after her goal in the first half against Glacier at Legends Stadium on Thursday, Oct. 6. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Glacier's Liam Ells (11) battles for a header off a corner kick against Flathead's Landen Saraceno (10) and Matthew Sanchez (40) at Legends Stadium on Thursday, Oct. 6. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Glacier's Harrison Sanders (2) and Alex Hoerner (4) congratulate Liam Ells (11) after Ells' goal in the first half against Flathead at Legends Stadium on Thursday, Oct. 6. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
There was more at stake Thursday than just the usual crosstown bragging rights for Glacier and Flathead. Flathead’s 1-0 victory all but assured the Bravettes a postseason berth.
“It's a good result,” Flathead coach Zach Brenneman said. “Good energy. It puts us in a really good spot in terms of how playoffs go as well. There was a lot riding on this game in terms of playoffs and things like that.”
There are eight teams in the Western AA and only six can qualify for playoffs. The Glacier girls will not be one of them. Barring any crazy turn of events with two games left, Flathead’s spot is all but set in stone.
Fiona Coulter scored halfway through the first half and the Bravettes held that up by neutralizing Glacier’s most dangerous players — Reagan Brisendine and Calista Wroble.
Mia Stephan nearly made it 2-0 with a free kick, but it bounced off the crossbar.
“We knew the game was gonna be intense and a battle and we worked hard this week in practice and kind of knew who their key players were and knew what we had to do to shut 'em down,” Brenneman said. “And for the most part we came out and shut them down pretty well.”
Brisendine leads the Western AA with 22 goals. She did get a breakaway in the second half but was tripped up near the net.
“I know she's (Reagan) disappointed she didn't add to that tally,” Glacier coach Damion Blackburn said after his team fell to 2-10. “I think the second half in particular was played a lot in their half and we generated a lot of chances, we just couldn't put them away. Credit to them, they worked hard.”
Blackburn was happy with the team’s play, but noted that they could have challenged Flathead’s keeper, Joy Sund, a bit more.
“It was fun to watch and I think we're not overly upset outside of that game was for qualification for playoffs pretty much,” Blackburn said. “So the girls are gonna be a little down about that, but their performance was a good one.”
Coming off four consecutive losses, beating Glacier and qualifying for playoffs is a confidence boost for the Bravettes (3-8-1).
We were in a bit of a slump there in terms of scoring goals and getting scored on,” Brenneman said. “So we really rose to the occasion and I feel like this is good momentum going into the last two games of the regular season for us to have this.”
The Glacier boys topped Flathead 5-1 in the late crosstown game. Hunter Lisowski, Liam Ells, Hans Coggins, and Bridger Dalla Betta were among the goal scorers for 7-2-3 Glacier, seeded third in Western AA.
Kian Tanner scored for the Braves, who are 3-7-2.
Glacier goes to Missoula Sentinel Saturday and finishes up the season in Butte Oct. 13. Flathead plays host to Sentinel on the 13th and its final regular season game will be in Butte Oct. 15.
Complete statistics were not available at press time.