By Bruce Sayler
Helena Capital capitalized.
It wasn’t any fancier than that on Thursday in boys’ soccer where Class AA power Helena Capital beat a young and building Butte High team 10-0 at Bulldog Memorial Stadium.
The Western AA Conference game was the Bulldogs’ home opener and it ended about 15 minutes past halftime on the 10-point difference rule. The Bruins were simply that good.
“They’re a great team,” Butte High head coach Cody Carpenter said. “They’re well-coached and they have 12 seniors and their leadership shows.
“I thought we played a great first half and we were still behind 4-0.”
Ray O’Connor notched two of the Capital goals in the first half, tallying them after Josiah Bibeau opened the scoring with a rebound shot. The original shot bounced hard off the Butte High goalie and Bibeau blasted it home before the defense could react. Nate Wilcox closed the first-half scoring with a straight poke from out front of the goal.
Playmaking was a Bruin forte. The team notched 12 assists while tallying the goals. Bibeau and Jake Jost each registered a pair of assists while Liam McAdams, Trey Moseman and Dallin Wall posted one apiece.
“Success breeds success,” Carpenter commented about Capital’s tradition of good soccer.
The Bruins dashed any Butte High hopes of upset early in the second half.
Moseman rushed the net almost immediately as play resumed and fired in a shot for a 5-0 advantage. The goal began a run of several in a Bruins surge that locked up the win. Jost used a similar tactic to tally the sixth goal and then Moseman knocked in a corner kick. Wilcox and Cohen Koch scored on penalty kicks before Luke Andersen slid across the ground on the left side of the net to punch in a corner pass with his toe.
Carpenter has 25 boys in the varsity/junior varsity program at Butte High.
“Jack (Luoma) and Boyd (Dewitt) are our only two returning starters,” he said. “The younger crew had yet to experience playing an elite program. So, we have to build on this.
“We had a good turnout. And, I thought Johan Thieszen, our freshman goalie, had some stomach issues before the match and wasn’t sure if he was going to play. But he did and he had some great saves.”
Jake Ricci gives the Bulldogs three seniors on the roster. The rest of the varsity is a mix of juniors, sophomores and two freshmen.
“We’re young,” Carpenter said. “I told the boys I’m still proud of them, especially on how they hung in there in the first half.
“It’s ugly to lose this bad, but I hope we can build on that and learn from that.”
Butte High, 0-2 in both league and overall season play, will be home next Thursday, September 8 for a Western AA match with Missoula Sentinel at Bulldog Memorial Stadium.
