The Billings West girls soccer team knocked off Western AA champion Kalispell Glacier 2-1 in Wednesday's Class AA soccer semifinal, setting up an all-Billings state championship match on Saturday. Defending champ Billings Skyview defeated Bozeman 2-1 in the other semifinal in the Magic City.
Saturday's title match is set for 5 p.m. at Daylis Stadium.
Billings Skyview 2, Bozeman 1
On a frozen afternoon at Daylis, Skyview used overtime to eliminate Bozeman 2-1 in a Class AA state semifinal on Wednesday, advancing to a second consecutive state championship match.
Skyview's Halle Labert cut inside and fired a shot from 25 yards that glanced off the keeper's hands and in for the game's first goal.
Four minutes later Addi Ekstrom delivered a brilliant counter attack for Bozeman. Ekstrom streaked down the right side and, from outside the box, booted one into the far corner. The perfect placement tied it 1-1 in the first half, and that's how regulation ended.
Labert had a chance for the lead in overtime with a free kick from roughly 30 yards, but it rocketed off the post.
With five minutes left in the second overtime, Montana's reigning Female Gatorade Player of the Year Jordan Roe played a through ball to Ashton Kelsey who slotted it in for the winner.
"This is a really big game," said Labert afterward. "We've grown together really well this season, and I think this one will rank up there."
"This one is just as memorable as last year's semis against West," Roe said. "It went down to the wire, just like this one did, so it's just cool that we can perform so well under pressure and still come out on top. It says a lot about our team."
Billings West 2, Kalispell Glacier 1
Jillian Hust and Emma Lensing both scored goals as Billings West defeated Kalispell Glacier in Wednesday's state soccer semifinal. The win boosts the Golden Bears into the Class AA championship match for the first time since 2010, when the Bears won back-to-back titles (2009-10).
Hust opened the scoring for West, which entered the postseason as the No. 3 seed from the Eastern AA. West keeper Kendell Ellis assisted on Hust's goal, which saw the senior make a solid run toward goal. Hust then assisted on Lensing's goal, a strike from the right side of the box that proved to be the difference in the match.
Ellis was solid in goal, and despite one score from the Wolfpack, West's defense did enough to advance to Saturday's championship match against rival Skyview. West enters the title tilt with a 9-3-3 record, while Glacier's season comes to a close at 11-5-1, one of the most successful seasons in program history.
