Bravettes earn tie with Hellgate

The Daily Inter Lake

Flathead junior Chelsea Shuman had two goals and an assist and the Bravettes tied Missoula Hellgate 4-4 in Western AA soccer at Kidsports on Wednesday.

Shuman took a pass from Tess Brenneman early in the second half and scored to give Flathead a 2-1 lead. Three minutes later, Shuman sailed a corner kick to teammate Malia Ozegovich, who booted in the goal.

Hellgate caught back up with three goals late in the half and matched Flathead's four goals after Shuman scored her second.

"We played very well overall, we just made a few mistakes that let Hellgate back in the game," Flathead coach Scott Warnell said.

Brittany Earnest scored off a pass from Talisa Gardener in the first half to put Flathead (1-2-3) up 1-0.

"We actually started putting shots on goal which has been a big improvement from the last three games we played," Warnell said.

It was Shuman's first game back from injury. She leads the team in scoring with five goals.

Flathead heads to Missoula on Saturday for a 2 p.m. game with Big Sky.

Hellgate 1 3 - 4

Flathead 1 3 - 4

HELLGATE - Taylor Simkins, 22:00; Denae Vandam, 58:00; Emmi Johnson, 62:00; Johnson, 73:00

FLATHEAD - Brittany Earnest (Talisa Gardener), 8:00; Chelsea Shuman (Tess Brenneman), 51:00; Malia Ozegovich (Shuman), 54:00; Shuman, 60:00

Shots on goal - Hellgate 9, Flathead 18

Goalie saves - Hellgate 5 (Anna Pickhardt, Molly Callahan-Baumstark), Flathead 7 (Karli Kusler)

Corner kicks - Hellgate 2, Flathead 4

Fouls - Hellgate 6, Flathead 10

Cards - None

Hellgate 4, Flathead 2

The Braves went goal for goal with the undefeated Knights in the first half but came up short in the end, dropping a Western AA boys match at Kidsports.

After Hellgate's Ian Hamilton scored his first of two goals, Flathead freshman Caleb Cannaday answered back with a score off an assist from Jerrad Merrill to tie the game. Minutes later, Hamilton scored again but the Braves came right back, this time with a goal from Scott Wiley off a Joaquin Calderon assist.

Hellgate needed two more goals in the second half to down Flathead, who lost to Hellgate 8-0 in the last meeting between the two teams.

"We did a heck of a job today," Flathead coach Chris Putzler said. "The small things that we're working on in practice and trying to improve are slowly coming along and that's what we're looking for."

The Braves (1-5) face Missoula Big Sky on the road on Saturday.

Missoula Hellgate 2 2 - 4

Flathead 2 0 - 2

HELLGATE - Ian Hamilton (penalty kick) 25:00; Hamilton (Jonah Brown), 26:00; Casey Higgins (Hamilton), 48:00; Brown, 76:00

FLATHEAD - Caleb Cannaday (Jerrad Merrill), 28:00; Scott Wiley (Joaquin Calderon), 29:00

Shots on goal - Hellgate 18, Flathead 11

Goalie saves - Hellgate 4 (Lucas Wittkopp), Flathead 7 (Jordan Remington)

Corner kicks - Hellgate 5, Flathead 4

Fouls - Hellgate 12, Flathead 7

Cards - None