West tops Glacier 3-2 in quarterfinal

BILLINGS — The Billings West Golden Bears edged the Glacier Wolfpack 3-2 in the final minutes of a State AA quarterfinal game on Friday.

“We played our best match of the season when it mattered most,” Glacier coach Ryan Billiet said. “It was just encouraging to see the guys come off the bus and long road trip and really come to play and played fantastically, to be honest.”

Hunter Lisowski got Glacier an early 1-0 lead, but West’s Ethan Holloway and Owen Guthridge scored two late goals and led 2-1 at the half.

Liam Ells got the equalizer in the 64th minute, and it seemed like everyone was trying to hang on for overtime. But that wouldn’t be the case: West was awarded a penalty kick after a hand ball call in the box with four minutes left. Guthridge hit pay dirt and time just ran out on the Wolfpack.

“It's just a tough one to give up,” Billiet said. “We were hoping for 20 more minutes in an overtime to really see where the game would've led at that point, but sometimes those calls are gonna be made and you've gotta not look back at it, not focus on it and understand that there was still 80 minutes of a match.

“I’m really proud of the character that the boys showed. And you hope they play their best at the end of the season when it matters most, and they certainly did.”

Glacier 1 1 — 2

Billings West 2 1 — 3

G - Hunter Lisowski (Harrison Sanders) 8:00

BW - Ethan Holloway 31:00

BW - Owen Guthridge 37:00

G - Liam Ells (Joey Paolini) 64:00

BW - Guthridge 76:00

Shots — Glacier 6, West 6; Goalie saves — Glacier 4 (Dylan Holly), West 4; Corner kicks — Glacier 5, West 4; Fouls — Glacier 5, West 6; Cards — Glacier 2, West 2.