MISSOULA — For years, the Missoula Hellgate boys soccer program was a fixture in the Class AA state championship match, a guarantee about as good as death and taxes.
The past two years the Knights missed the title game after losses in the semifinal round, but all of that was corrected Tuesday evening at Fort Missoula Regional Park as Hellgate defeated Helena Capital 1-0 in a competitive match to punch its ticket back to the final game of the postseason.
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Declan Reed broke the Knights through in the 56th minute as he scored the game's lone goal. The second half was then owned by Hellgate keeper Henry Leow, who shined as the Bruins ramped up the offensive onslaught in hopes of tying the game.
Hellgate came out firing in the match. But like Leow in the second half, Capital keeper Owen Jenkins was stellar as he withstood everything the Knights threw at him to keep it scoreless at the end of the first half.
Hellgate now returns to the championship match, a game coach Jay Anderson and his crew are well familiar with after the program went on a run of nine consecutive title game appearances from 2014-2022. Hellgate will take on Gallatin in Bozeman on Saturday to decide the state champion.
