HELENA -- One was certainly a nail biter, the other was not in the slightest, as the Helena High boys and girls soccer teams notched wins in the first round of the Class AA state soccer playoffs on Tuesday.
The Helena High boys earned a 1-0 win over crosstown rival Helena Capital, while the Helena High girls walloped Butte 10-0.
For the Helena High girls, Rachel Plaster dominated, notching three goals, with seven other Bengals each putting a goal away en route to a win that will take them to the second round of the Class AA playoffs.
For the Helena High boys, the game was a bit more stressful. Both the Bengals and the Bruins battled through the rain trying to break the scoreless tie, but neither team was able to find the net. The game remained scoreless until a little more than `10 minutes into the first overtime period, when Helena's Joshua Wilcox took a pass and artfully curved a shot to the right that found the top right corner of the net, giving the Bengals the only score of the game.
Following the game, Wilcox noted the fact that the first round of the playoffs was extremely emotional because of the crosstown atmosphere.
"It's the playoffs and it's crosstown, so there's a lot of emotion and I just, yeah," said Wilcox, who choked up for a moment. "It's different because there's all that emotion and it's the last, you know, if we lose this game, then we're out. So it's a big deal."
Both of the Helena High soccer teams will get set and prepped for Round 2 of the Class AA playoffs that kick off on Oct. 17.
