Class AA playoffs for boys and girls begin today with Flathead Valley teams playing games in Kalispell and Helena.

The Glacier girls host winless Butte, while the Flathead Bravettes travel to Helena for another postseason tangle with the Bengals.

The Wolfpack plays at 3:30 p.m. and the Bravettes play at 3 p.m. as both teams try to extend their seasons.

The Flathead and Glacier boys face one another in a crosstown battle, the third meeting between them this season, at 5:30 p.m.

No. 1 Glacier

vs. No. 8 Butte, 3:30 p.m.

at Legends Stadium

The Glacier Wolfpack girls soccer team is coming off a historic season.

For the first time in the school’s 13-year history, Glacier won the Western AA conference.

It was a remarkable turnaround for a team that finished at the bottom of Western AA standings last season.

“It’s great but it’s how you finish,” Glacier coach Brenden Byrd said. “We finished strong in the conference but we want to keep it going. That’s whats important for this team right now.”

By virtue of being the No. 1 Western seed, Glacier gets to host a playoff game against Western No. 8 seed Butte.

Butte went 0-13-1 this season and the Wolfpack won 8-0 and 5-0 in its previous two meetings this year.

“Every time we’ve played Butte they’ve gotten better,” Byrd said. “The girls are up to the challenge and you can’t rule anyone out in playoffs.”

Part of Butte’s attack includes Christina Bierlie, who Byrd said can change a game with one play.

“One wrong touch and that’s a young lady that can find the back of the net,” Byrd said.

The Wolfpack has some weapons of its own, though.

Madison Becker is Glacier’s leading scorer with 13 goals and 44 points. Emma Paulson scored six goals and Emily Cleveland, Alma Patrick and Ady Powell each have four.

Its a balanced scoring attack that served them well during the season, Byrd said.

“It’s a big piece for us,” Byrd said. “It’s a team effort and this team is doing it.”

Though Byrd said Glacier finished the season strong and is peaking at a good time, it lost to Missoula Sentinel 1-0 in the final game of the season.

“That was a bit of a gut check for us,” Byrd said. “First place or not you still have to compete in every game.”

The Glacier boys also play at Legends today. That will provide a rare opportinity to cheer on classmates during a playoff game.

“We’re gonna be there for the boys and the boys are gonna be there for us, so it’ll be fun,” Byrd said.

No. 6 Flathead at

No. 3 Helena High, 3 p.m.

at Seibel Fields

When it comes to scoring, there’s not anyone in Class AA who can beat Skyleigh Thompson’s production.

The Flathead junior leads the state in goals (24) and assists (11) and has 83 points.

“She’s going to do something great [today],” Bravettes coach Bledy Doda said. “I believe in her. The numbers aren’t just numbers. It’s the hard work she puts out.”

Helena High lost a tie breaker to Hellgate for the No. 3 Western seed.

“I know that they are a good team, physical,” Doda said. “Its going to be a very physical match.”

The Bravettes split the season series with Helena, winning 4-3 earlier in the year and then losing 3-1.

Flathead ended the season with a 0-3-1 streak, but Doda says the team is ready.

“I never saw them to be as ready as they are now,” Doda said. “This time they know we had a couple bad games and we are not that team.”

Doda adds that the team is “one thousand percent ready.”

In the last game of the season, Flathead tied Missoula Big Sky 3-3.

“If they come out and play the same game that we played against Big Sky they won’t have a problem playing with any team,” Doda said.

Last year, Flathead beat Helena to move on to the AA playoffs, losing in the first round to Billings Skyview.

Boys

No. 5 Glacier

at No. 4 Flathead, 5:30 p.m

at Legends Stadium

Flathead swept Glacier in both matches this season, winning 5-2 and 1-0.

That gave the Braves the tiebreaker for the No. 4 Western AA seed.

“It should be an intense battle,” Flathead coach Zach Brenneman said. “They say its very tough to beat a team three times. We know that if we come and do what we can do we can beat them.”

Though the Braves (7-6-1) got the better of the Wolfpack (6-4-4) more than once this season, they aren’t overconfident about facing them again.

“They know that Glacier’s a good team and they’re gonna come ready to play,” Brenneman said. “I don’t think they’re overconfident. We have the ability to beat them because we’ve done it before.”

Glacier’s scoring is spread out well over its line up, but Braden Nitschelm and Zane Elliott are names that pop up on the scoresheet often. Elliott leads the team with 12 goals and Nitschelm has nine.

“They play fast they play hard,” Brenneman said. “They have some really strong players in the middle of the field and take advantage of our mistakes. We need to play strong and play sharp and keep an eye one where their players are at.”

Flathead boasts three double-digit goal scorers, in AJ Apple, Eric Gardner and Jalen Hawes.

Glacier coach Ryan Billiet said his team is peaking at the right time.

The Wolfpack finished the regular season 3-1-1.

“For us we’ve gad some really good results especially the last part of the season,” Billiet said. “We’ve committed to some good things. We’re working tirelessly to continue to get results and focus on what we need to do to keep the season alive. We want to continue to learn and play our best match and that’s what we hope to do tomorrow.”

Playing a team they’ve seen twice already this season and a crosstown rival to boot is something Billiet said the team is using as fuel.

“I’m really excited for the players and the moment,” Billiet said “It’s one of those fun things you get to do in high school. It’s crosstown, its always a crazy game and you kind of never know until the final whistle. Some added intensity and excitement that it’s a playoff game.”

Both teams lost in the AA quarterfinals last year.