The dog days of summer are over as prep sports begin in Flathead County.

Flathead Braves soccer starts the season on the road in Great Falls for a kickoff tournament on Saturday. Flathead boys open with a 10:30 a.m. match vs. Billings West and a 1:30 p.m. match against Billings Senior. Flathead girls play at noon and 3 p.m. against the same two schools.

Glacier will also be in Great Falls for the tournament and the girls start off with a 10:30 a.m. test vs. C.M. Russell and play a 1:30 p.m. match against Great Falls High. Glacier boys play at noon and 3 p.m. against CMR and Great Falls.

Flathead

Boys

Flathead’s season ended one game shy of the state tournament last year. First year coach Zach Brenneman wants to get them there and farther this season.

“They lost to a team that they had beaten earlier in the season,” Brenneman said. “A little bit of heartbreak for them.”

Missoula Sentinel defeated Flathead (6-7-2 overall) in a play-in game where a win would have sent it to the state tournament.

“I’m hoping they’ll come back and have a winning season and hopefully not have to have a playoff game and make it to state,” Brenneman said. “That’s our goal.”

Though it’s Brenneman’s first year as coach, he’s no stranger to Flathead athletics — he was part of the Braves team that won the Class AA state tournament in 2005.

The Braves feature eight seniors on this year’s squad, including goalkeeper Max Warnell, Colter Goss, Cameron DeNeeve and Walt Hollensteiner.

“We’re looking really competitive,” Brenneman said. “We’ve got a lot of returning varsity letter winners. Just a few pieces that we need to fill in and we’ll have a really competitive, strong team moving forward.”

Junior Jaylen Hawes, who was an all-conference player in 2017, will be back as well.

“We’ve been working hard and the players, you can tell they really want to go farther than they have in the past and they’re really working hard to achieve that this year,” Brenneman said.

Girls

The Flathead girls have a new coach this season, Bledy Doda, who replaced Jenni Sipe, and are hoping for a fresh start. The Bravettes were 1-12-2 last season and 2-28-2 overall through the past two seasons.

“We are going to have a great season,” Doda said.

Four seniors will be on this year’s roster, including standout Shayenn Thompson. Thompson’s sister, sophomore Skyleigh, who was an all-state player last year, will also return.

“They both will do well,” Doda said. “I see them as a team and we all work together.”

Doda is still learning about his players, since he joined the program on July 17, but believes all the effort and preparation put into summer practices will pay off.

“With the hard work we are putting into the offseason, it’s going to be positive. I believe in that.”

Glacier

Boys

They might have lost 13 seniors, but the Glacier boys soccer program has plenty of talent waiting in the wings.

Coming off the best season of its program to date in 2017, the Wolfpack (10-2-4) came up just shy of a state title with a second-place finish at the Class AA tournament, where it was defeated by Missoula Hellgate 4-2 in the final. Glacier has made the state tournament four consecutive years. It went from winless to the state final in that time under fifth-year coach Ryan Billiet.

Only eight players are returning from last year’s varsity squad, including two starters.

“I don’t feel like it’s a rebuilding year by any means,” Billiet said. “It’s just the next class’s turn to lead.”

A record 45 players showed up for camp, including 26 freshmen. No one will be cut and there will be pool workouts and each player will be given an opportunity to develop with the hopes they’ll eventually move up within the program.

Four seniors will return this season: Goalkeeper Andrew Lorenc, forwards Dyllyn Stabler and Connor Griffin and defenseman Kamren Barkus. Barkus and Stabler are the only two starters coming back from the previous year’s roster.

“I expect great things from them,” Billiet said of the seniors. “I feel really confident in their ability to lead on and off the field. They’re ambassadors of the program.”

Five sophomores will return, including midfielder Micah Hiel, who earned on a lot of playing time last year.

“They have shown great strides from last year,” Billiet said. “Really excited to see that group of guys.”

Billiet also expects to have some freshmen standouts as well.

“We’ve just got a very skillful group here,” he said. “We’re excited about the season and the opportunity to continue to find success and enjoy the season as well.”

Girls

It’s yet to be determined how much the absence of Glacier girls state MVP Cadie Williams will be felt, but the Wolfpack (11-5-1) looks well positioned to have another strong season.

Coach Brenden Byrd is confident in the abilities of the group coming in this year.

“The young girls have all stepped up to the challenge and want to show what they can do,” Byrd said. “It’s going to be a fun conference race this year.”

Glacier was eliminated from the Class AA state tournament in the first round last October, a 3-1 loss to Skyview.

The Glacier girls team returns three seniors from last year’s group. All-conference junior goalkeeper Sophie Smith, sophomore forward Madison Becker and sophomore defender Kenzie Williams, who both received all-state honorable mentions last year, will also return. Williams played in almost every game as a freshman last season.

Byrd expects the sophomores to have a big impact this year. In addition to Williams and Becker, that class includes forward Taylor Brisendine, midfielder Emily Cleveland, defensive midfielder Addy Powell and keeper Ellie Keller.

“They’re gonna be the headline of Glacier High School for the next three years,” Byrd said.

“It’s early in the season, so most of us are just wondering what this team is gonna do.”