Fall prep sports are gearing up, finally, after what was a very long offseason.

Coaches and players (and parents) can breathe a collective sigh of relief that they’ll get to have a season, while remembering it was not that long ago that spring sports were axed altogether due to concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Flathead and Glacier soccer teams should get off to a roaring start when they open their season with a crosstown game at Legends Stadium today, with the boys starting at 6 p.m. and the girls kicking off at 8 p.m.

Flathead

Boys

The Braves season ended in Western AA divisional playoffs at the hands of the Glacier Wolfpack last fall, a 2-1 loss.

Flathead lost eight seniors from last year’s squad, seven of whom were starters.

Coach Zach Brenneman, though, sees this as an opportunity for players who were on the varsity bubble to prove themselves and earn a starting spot.

“I’m excited, I think we’ve got a great group of players,” Brenneman said. “It’ll be good to see where we’re at. There are some pieces that need to get filled in and the kids are ready for the challenge.”

Flathead prepped for the season opener with two scrimmages against Columbia Falls High School and Brenneman said restrictions related to the pandemic didn’t affect summer preparations very much — players were still able to do open field practice before formal practice began.

One thing Brenneman said he hasn’t done this year that would have been done previously is move players from JV to varsity during practice because of social distancing concerns and in the event a player falls ill, to avoid infecting healthy players on either squad.

“They [the players] would rather have to do the things they are asked to do than not have a season at all,” Brenneman said.

Girls

Flathead returns Western AA soccer Player of the Year Skyleigh Thompson to this year’s squad. Thompson, now a senior, led all of Class AA with 24 goals and 59 points last season. For the third year in a row, Thompson will be team captain.

“She’s going to be a big part of the team,” coach Bledy Doda said.

Flathead lost three seniors to graduation this summer, but the future still looks bright, Doda said.

“I think my team is looking great,” he said. “I think we have some talent and we’ve got new freshmen that I think will be very helpful.”

The Bravettes fell to Helena in Western AA divisional, 5-0 last year. Playing Glacier right off the bat will be a challenge, but its one Doda says the team is ready for, though he wishes there was a little more of a warmup leading up to such a big game.

“We are prepared for them and we will do our best,” Doda said.

Glacier

Boys

Wolfpack coach Ryan Billiet is still taken aback when thinking back on the accomplishments of his team last fall. “A lot of just wow - what a season,” he said.

Glacier made it all the way to the state semifinal, where it ran into eventual state champion Missoula Hellgate. They lost 3-0.

This year, Glacier brings back a more seasoned squad. Many of the seniors were freshmen when Glacier played in the state final in 2017.

“We’ve got a real solid group of seniors,” Billiet said. “A lot of those guys saw the culture and what it takes to play in that situation.”

Braden Nitschelm and Diego Mendoza — all-state selections in 2019 — are two of those players. All-conference selection Eli Mildren and conference honorable mention Zane Elliott, who scored 12 goals, are also returning.

“A real solid returning group,” Billiet said. “So now its super competitive as to who’re vying for playing time and starting spots.”

Tomorrow will be a good measuring stick for Billiet to gauge where the team is at chemistry wise.

“They’re ready to play,” Billiet said. “Certain things are exposed the first time you play a match and until you kick off you don’t know where you’re at. This is one of those opportunities to work through things in the flow. These guys have really worked hard for their careers and putting all that time effort and energy in having a season is really meaningful.”

Girls

Glacier won the Western AA conference last season and made it all the way to state semifinals where they lost a tight 2-1 battle to Billings West, who went on to win the state title.

The Wolfpack lost four seniors from that team.

“We are returning some power from last years team,” coach Brenden Byrd said.

Kenzie Williams and Madison Becker, both 2019 all-state selections will be back, as well as Emily Cleveland and Ady Powell, who earned all conference honorable mention.

Becker led Glacier with 13 goals and 31 points.

Taylor Brisendine, who was injured and missed the entire 2019 campaign, is returning and is one of nine seniors this year.

Byrd said nothing was taken for granted in preparing for this season amidst the uncertainty, so the goal was to practice as if there were a game the next day.

“We’re fit and ready for the start of the season, it was just is the season going to start,” Byrd said. “They are happy to play it one game at a time and take full advantage of whatever they get.”