Higher expectations for Flathead, Glacier soccer
By DAVID LESNICK
The Daily Inter Lake
A new season and along with it, a new format for Class AA soccer.
With the addition of Belgrade to the Eastern division, AA will have 15 teams this year.
Next year it jumps to 16 with Gallatin High School in Bozeman opening its doors. That will give the Eastern Division eight teams. The Western Division will have eight this season with Butte moving from the Eastern to the Western.
What this means — all regular season matches now are versus division foes.
The postseason also changes. AA has held a state tournament at a specific site in the past with state play-in matches for those not receiving automatic byes to state. Now, the playoffs will be like that of Class A — playoff matches at the home site of the highest seed. Winners advance, losers are done. Play will be held on Tuesdays and Saturdays with divisional playoffs, quarterfinals, semifinals and then the state final at the highest seed on Nov. 2.
Play opens for Flathead and Glacier on Saturday. Flathead’s boys and girls travel to Butte while Glacier is at Missoula Hellgate. Then it’s crosstown action on Sept. 5, the second match on the schedule for both schools, at Legends Stadium. The boys play at 6 p.m. followed by the girls at 8.
The Bozeman boys and Billings Skyview girls are defending state champions. Both were 15-0-0 in 2018.
Girls
Flathead
A .500 record in league play capped off by a trip to the state tournament was a remarkable showing for the Bravettes, who bounced back under first-year coach Bledy Doda.
“I think we will prepare this year again for the same thing,” Doda said.
To do that, the Bravettes will have to fill a big hole on offense and plug in some other key players for graduated seniors and an injured player, but Doda remains confident his team will prevail.
“The expectations are we are going to be there (at state) and improve a little more,” he said.
“We want to be one of the top four teams (in the Western AA to qualify for state).”
Gone is the team’s top scorer Shayenne Thompson. She netted 11 of the team’s 21 goals. The 5-foot-6 all-state player has taken her skills to the University of Providence.
“She is going to be hard to replace,” Doda said.
But her younger sister Skyleigh Thompson, who had five goals and five assists in 2018, is back. She will be a junior.
“We will have to depend on her,” Doda said.
“She will have to carry us this year. She’s my star this year. I believe in her 100 percent. She will be one of the better players in the state. She’s strong, smart, works very hard, never gives up.”
Doda was counting on a big final season from senior Chloe Nadeau, but she will miss the fall campaign because of a knee injury she suffered during the spring club soccer season.
“A huge loss,” he said of the midfielder.
Other returning starters for Flathead are: Rylee Barnes, Kami Darrow, Ellie Hawes, True Gannon and Lily Tanko. Sara Harrison, Tessa Smith and Chloe Mohatt earned varsity letters.
“The girls are working hard,” Doda said.
“They are working hard for the goals we have.”
Glacier
It was a long, tough season a year ago for the Wolfpack.
Just two wins in league play, and overall.
The team finished with 21 goals scored and 35 allowed.
“So many times in those games, we just couldn’t finish,” Glacier coach Brenden Byrd said.
“We had sophomores and freshmen in our lineup. We were inexperienced and we were testing things out, putting players in positions they were not used to.”
Byrd is hoping those growing pains will translate into a much more successful go this time around.
“Our top two scorers are back,” he said
“We return 12 letter winners and nine starters. We only graduated two senior starters.
“We know the players (a little better this year),” he added.
“We knew they would step up (for this year) and they have for sure.”
Madison Becker, seven goals and five assists, and Taylor Brisendine, seven goals and two assists, were the offensive forces a year ago and will be counted on again.
Becker was an all-conference selection last year.
“Their tenacity,” Byrd said of what makes them dangerous when they have the ball.
“They have a nose for the goal like most strikers do. The good thing for us is we have two of them.”
Byrd is also expecting big things from goal keepers Sophie Smith and Ellie Keller. They shared duties last year, rotating back and forth as starters.
The other returning starters are Emily Cleveland, Ady Powell, Kenzie Williams, Micah Hickethier and Mercedes Santa. Williams was an all-state pick last year, Powell garnered all-conference honors and Hickethier was honorable mention all-conference.
Emma Paulson, Jane Trina and Mickaela Santa saw enough varsity action to earn letters.
“Our preseason focus is far more better than any team I have coached,” Byrd said.
“Now we feel more like a veteran squad this year. It’s a little different look for this team this year.”
Byrd said offensively, “we like to find goals. We will be a very goal driven team, very fast paced offense. Our biggest thing this year is how well rounded we are.”
Boys
Glacier
The Wolfpack, with two league wins last year plus a nonconference victory, struggled with a young roster.
That experience should start paying off this year and carry over.
“We’re still young, but they are a year older,” Glacier coach Ryan Billiet said.
“ I have only two seniors — Micah Heil and Luke Wilson — on the varsity roster, a handful of juniors. We just have a group that’s developing year after year. They have a lot of club experience … several are in their second or third year playing at the varsity level.”
The eight returning starters are Heil, Diego Mendoza, Zane Elliott, Braden Nitschelm, Parker Creer, Daniel Camp, Eli Mildren and Solomon Della Betta.
Camp was the team’s No. 2 scorer last year with five goals and one assist. The team had 26 total and allowed 40.
“In the past, not a lot of the sophomores had varsity experience,” Billiet said.
“It’s nice to know they had good playing time (last year).”
Glacier did not have an all-state or all-conference selection off last year’s team.
“Maybe the guys are not known on the state level yet, but they have provided excellent leadership,” Billiet said.
“There is a very good culture in the program right now. The guys are in good spirits, uplifting.”
He said many of his players participated in a summer program and “came in fit. I’m looking forward to see what we can do against everyone else in the state. We have an opportunity for growth and maturity.”
Billiet said Elliott “looks really dangerous in training” along with Camp and Creer for the offense.
With Nitschelm and Heil coming out of the middle, “I’m looking for good things out of the attack coming through them. The front five should be pretty good.”
Jonathan Pyron, a returning sophomore, will be in the goal. He was the team’s JV keeper last year, but saw limited varsity action.
Mendoza returns in the back line and is a team captain.
Mildren and Della Betta also return to the back line.
“They have had (varsity playing) time with one another,” Billiet said of the back line.
“They will get better.”
Flathead
Second year coach and former Brave standout Zach Brenneman returns six starters — AJ Apple, Eric Gardner, Jalen Hawes, Ganten Pirrie, Camas Rinehart and Ethan Vandenbosch.
Hawes was an all-conference selection last fall.
Vandenbosch will slide in and play centerback and the team’s entire central midfield returns.
“It’s a good core to build on this year,” Brenneman said.
“I thought it (last year) was a good starting point. I thought we were able to accomplish quite a bit. It was heartbreaking we came so close to winning our playoff game to qualify for state. I would say our season was a success. Now we will build off that success for this season.”
Flathead was 5-7 in league play and 7-7 overall. The Braves tallied 20 goals in league matches and allowed 28. The team returns its No. 2 scorer, Apple (six goals).
“You can tell the players really want it (this year),” Brenneman said.
“They are motivated to work hard. I haven’t had to work on coach motivation.”
He said Flathead will be strong in the middle.
“The two centerbacks are tall, very athletic and communicate very well,” Brenneman said of Rinehart and Vandenbosch.
“They will do a good job locking down our defense this year and not give up very many goals.”
The middle includes Hawes, Gardner and Pirrie.
“I think we are just as good for sure (as last year’s team talent wise),” Brenneman said.
“Time will tell. They have the potential to be a better team if they work hard and go for it.”
2018 Final Regular
Season Standings
West AA Girls
League Overall
W L T W L T
Missoula Big Sky 9 2 1 10 2 2
Missoula Hellgate 5 2 5 6 3 5
Missoula Sentinel 5 4 3 7 4 3
Flathead 5 5 2 5 7 2
Helena High 4 5 3 5 6 3
Helena Capital 4 7 1 4 8 2
Glacier 2 9 1 2 10 2
West AA Boys
League Overall
W L T W L T
Missoula Hellgate 11 0 1 13 0 1
Helena High 9 2 1 10 2 2
Missoula Sentinel 7 5 0 9 5 0
Helena Capital 6 4 2 8 4 2
Flathead 5 7 0 7 7 0
Glacier 2 10 0 3 11 0
Missoula Big Sky 0 12 0 0 14 0