Helena @ Hellgate Girls Preview

Our soccer preview takes a look at a key match up between two historical soccer powerhouses as the 2-2-1 Helena Bengals come to Missoula to take on the 3-0-2 Hellgate girls soccer team on Thursday night.

Helena comes to town sitting in the middle of Class AA girls soccer after having one of the best years in the past decade. Bouncing back from graduating a strong group of seniors in the spring of 2019 the Lady Bengals have been keeping pace with the rest of the league. Starting the season with a win over Sentinel, and then shutout their crosstown rival Capital two games later, the Lady Bengals come to Missoula riding a two game losing streak.

On the other side of the pitch stands the Hellgate Lady Knights who have a talented roster of girls returning to the team in the 2019 school year. Opening the season with a tie to Glacier, followed by a trio of wins in a row, one of which was over AA girls soccer powerhouse Big Sky. The Lady Knights enter the contest off a 0-0 tie against crosstown rival Sentinel in a game that was full of drama.

For Thursday’s game expect Hellgate to  dominated time of possession as they have in their first five games by over 60% compared to their opponents, forcing other teams to play on their heals. On the other side of the pitch Helena has been aggressive on the defensive side of the ball with intelligent play for their experienced mid fielders. Expect this match to be a low scoring contest that will see either Hellgate coming away with a 1-0 win, or a 1-1 tie.

Game time is at 5:30 pm with the girls playing after the boys battle on the pitch on the Rattlesnake Fields.