Glacier boys fall short in state final
The Daily Inter Lake
MISSOULA — So close.
Glacier’s boys soccer team scored the first goal of overtime, despite playing with 10 players, but couldn’t hold on in falling to Missoula Hellgate 4-2 in the Class AA state championship match on Saturday at Fort Missoula.
The game was tightly played throughout, tied at 0-0 at halftime despite a few quality chances from Glacier to close the half.
Hellgate earned a penalty kick at the start of the second half, and defending Gatorade player of the year Matt Baldridge netted a goal to give the Knights a 1-0 lead. Glacier tied the game shortly after, with Ryan Symmes tossing the ball on net towards Tyler Keller with the ball eventually deflecting in, resulting in a Hellgate own goal to knot the score at 1-1.
The game changed a few minutes later, however, when Glacier was assessed a controversial red card on a late tackle and was forced to play a man down the rest of the game.
Still the Wolfpack was able to hold a tie until the close of regulation, with the help of senior keeper Logan Hill, who made 11 saves including a rocket stop from Baldridge at the end of the second half.
The Wolfpack scored first in the first overtime session when Kamren Barkus sent a long ball on goal that fooled the keeper and landed in the back of the net to give Glacier a 2-1 lead.
That didn’t last long, however, with Will Dauenhauer knocking in a rebound off a Baldridge shot to even the score. A minute after that Baldridge cleaned up another rebound to put the Knights in front for good.
Rylan Compton added an insurance goal in the second overtime period to clinch the third straight state title for Hellgate.
Hellgate outshot Glacier 17-7, though the Wolfpack had three more corner kicks.
“We played fantastic,” Glacier coach Ryan Billiet said.
“When we got the red card that was a game-changing moment for us. We stayed compact and made some adjustments to try to (limit) their attack. We did it for a long period of time, got the goal to go ahead. They just started finding space quickly in the middle and we just didn’t have anything left in the tank.
“That’s too good of a team to be down a player for 40 minutes of game time.”
Glacier finishes the season with the best record in school history and takes home its first trophy from the state tournament with the second place finish.
“The guys have been faced with so much adversity all season long,” Billiet said. “We kept finding ways, just came up a little shy against the best team in the state. But just to be playing among the best teams in the state is just special. Our guys are very proud of finishing second place.”
Championship
Glacier 0 1 1 0 — 2
Hellgate 0 1 2 1 — 4
H — Matt Baldridge (PK), 51:00
G — Hellgate own goal, 60:00
G — Kamren Barkus, 86:00
H — Will Dauenhauer (Baldridge), 87:00
H — Baldridge, 88:00
H — Rylan Compton, 97:00
Shots — Glacier 7, Hellgate 17. Keeper Saves — Glacier 11 (Logan Hill), Hellgate 7 (Justin Lane). Corner kicks — Glacier 6, Hellgate 3. Fouls — Glacier 21, Hellgate 13. Cards — Glacier: Red 1. Hellgate: Yellow 1.
Third place
Billings Senior 0 0 — 0
Bozeman 1 2 — 3
B — Dave Vincent (Zach Springer), 15:00
B — Springer (Ted Scott), 47:00
B — Springer (Jack Bentson), 62:00
Shots — Senior 1, Bozeman 9. Fouls — Senior 6, Bozeman 4. Cards — Senior: Yellow 1. Bozeman: Yellow 1.
Fifth place
Billings West 0 1 — 1
Helena High 3 0 — 3
H — Jackson Keller, 4:00
H — Treven Maharg, 6:00
H — Keller, 38:00
B — Lucas Gerbasi (Sam Carling), 61:00
GIRLS
Big Sky 3, Glacier 2
MISSOULA — Big Sky scored a pair of goals in the first five minutes of the second half to run away from Glacier in the Class AA girls soccer fifth-place match.
Glacier tied the game at 1-1 in the 17th minute on a goal from freshman Taylor Brisendine but Big Sky’s Whitney Morrison scored twice in the first five minutes of the second half, giving the Eagles a 3-1 lead.
Glacier senior Cadie Williams, the leading goal scorer in the state, notched a goal in the 60th minute to cut into the lead.
Fifth place
Big Sky 1 2 — 3
Glacier 1 1 — 2
BS – Hannah Santamaria (Tilynn McGreevey), 7:00
G – Taylor Brisendine, 17:00
BS – Whitney Morrison (Jasmine Schreckendgust), 42:00
BS – Morrison (Mackenzie Morrison), 45:00
G – Cadie Williams, 60:00
Championship
Bozeman 0 2 — 2
Helena 2 2 — 4
H – Katie Martin (corner kick), 11:00
H – Martin (Kamden Hilborn), 28:00
B – Olivia Kaiser (Keely Kempt), 42:00
B – Kaiser (Ashlyn Lewis), 56:00
H – Hilborn (penalty kick), 71:00
H – Alanna Vickory (Hilborn, Martin), 73:00
Shots on goal – Bozeman 9, Helena 17. Saves – Bozeman 6 (Camille Broling, AJ Battle), Helena 5 (Ashlin Slanger). Corners – Bozeman 5, Helena 7. Fouls – Bozeman 10, Helena 13. Cards – None.
Third place
Billings Senior 2 1 — 3
Billings Skyview 0 2 — 2
Sen – Blair Stapleton, 25:00
Sen – Laura Zimmer (Sarah Maynard), 35:00
Sky – Shay Kirby (Jordan Roe), 57:00
Sky – Devyn Ruff (Roe), 70:00
Sen – Maynard, 74:00