BILLINGS — Less than six months ago, a trio of Glacier boys soccer players were celebrating a state championship at Amend Park.

This weekend, they’ll be looking to do it again.

The Wolfpack begins the Class AA tournament today at noon against defending champion Bozeman, aiming to build on last year’s historic run and follow up the Flathead Soccer Club’s U-18 Montana State Cup club title from earlier this summer.

“It’s been a great day,” Glacier coach Ryan Billiet said of his team’s trip to Billings on Wednesday. “We’ve got the motor coach so we’re rolling in style on the road and we’ve connected and had a good time with one another.

“It’s been fun. That’s what this is all about.”

Glacier seniors Ryker McIntyre, Colton Becker and Ben Wright were part of the Flathead Force team that took home the Montana Youth Soccer Association state cup at Amend Park in June, and three Wolfpack underclassmen — Rohit Tappeta, Dyllyn Stabler and Connor Griffin — won the U-14 state championship on the same field.

“We’ve got some guys that have been here already (on this field),” Billiet said. “It’s a very familiar situation for these kids. I can feel the energy.”

Glacier will need every edge it can get today against a Hawks team that has taken home the state title in each of the last three seasons. Bozeman is 10-2-0 so far this year, suffering its only two losses at the hands of undefeated Billings Senior.

“I don’t know anything about them and they don’t know anything about us,” Billiet said. “None of the seniors have played Bozeman in their high school career. We’re just ecstatic for the opportunity to play against that team.”

Glacier (7-5-1) comes into the tournament on the heels of a thrilling shootout win over Helena Capital in a play-in game on Saturday. In that contest, the Wolfpack got regulation goals from Wright and Micah Reason, the first of the year for each.

No longer reliant solely on Becker, whose 16 goals were six more than anyone else in Western AA this year, Billiet hopes the Pack’s newfound offensive balance translates into success in the tournament.

“In the game that mattered most, we had two guys who hadn’t done it all year finish for us,” he said. “We’re not one-dimensional and that’s helped us build confidence and we expect other guys are going to put it away.”

Down to the final eight, if Glacier wins today they’ll advance to take on the winner of Billings West and Missoula Hellgate on Friday at 1:30 p.m. With a loss, the Wolfpack moves to the consolation match against the West-Hellgate loser at 11 a.m.

Last year, Glacier defeated Billings Senior in the first round before falling to Hellgate in the semifinals. The Pack lost to Missoula Sentinel in the third place match as well, but the fourth place finish was the best ever for Glacier’s program.