The Helena High girls soccer team tied Flathead High 1-1 at Siebel Fields Saturday, while the Bengals boys lost to the Braves 1-0.

Both home teams had shots that came within inches of changing the outcome, but those attempts were not destined to go in.

The Lady Bengals took a 1-0 lead in the first half over the Bravettes, when Kelli Hubley corner-kicked a ball to Lauren Brophy, who headed it into the net. Brophy's ninth goal of the season came at the 28-minute mark. The goal tied her for third in the state. The senior midfielder netted a ball earlier, only to have the tally negated by an off-sides call. Flathead's Kassi Hebert tied it up in the 58th minute, and the game ended in a deadlock.

Helena controlled the ball for a majority of the game, out-shooting the visitors 25-7. The Bengals just could not buy another goal, despite having at least four cracks at the net from six yards out. Two of those came within seconds of each other, the closest being an attempt by Meghan Upham.

Another attempt came when Haley Jensen crossed to Brophy, who flicked a pass to a charging Demi Wignot. Wignot fired a bullet at close range, which was knocked away by a leaping Karli Kustler, the Bravettes' goalie.

The closest near-miss of the day came off the foot of Taylor Edwards. From about 10 yards out, the Bengals forward gathered a deflected ball and booted a shot which was just inches too high, grazing the net's cross bar.

"I really did think it was going to curve in there (for the score)," Edwards said. She added that she felt her team had plenty of chances during the game, but just couldn't finish.

Helena coach Mike Meloy agreed, "we created lots of opportunities, the shots just weren't going in.

"And defensively we had a great overall effort, especially Laura Beck."

The Lady Bengals are now 5-1-2 on the year, while Flathead is 3-3-3.

In the boys action -- which was a great defensive match-up in the rain -- the two clubs battled back and forth evenly for the full 80 minutes, the difference being Flathead's Cameron Clevedince's goal at the 56th minute.

The winning marker occurred after Helena keeper Riley Sheldon's sensational blocked shot, with the ball bouncing over to Clevedince who nursed it into the open net from just three yards out.

One of the Bengals best opportunities to get on the scoreboard happened early in the game, when Haley Klarich passed to Jake Staley, and Staley rifled a shot which hit the crossbar and bounced almost straight down. Klarich also produced a couple of near-misses.

Helena coach Carl Straub, who earned his 100th career win last Thursday, felt that his club could've used more intensity for the first part of the match.

"I didn't think we played or passed very well for the first 60 minutes or so," said Straub, who owns a lifetime overall record of 100-61-23 for a .606 winning percentage. "We pushed hard at the end, but we need that effort for the whole game. And give credit to Flathead, they played hard and were very physical."

The defending state champs slip to 5-3, while Flathead improves to 5-4.

GIRLS

Flathead 0 1 - 1

Helena 1 0 - 1

HHS - Lauren Brophy (Kelli Hubley), 28:00

Flat - Kassi Hebert (Heidi Windauer), 57:00

Shots on goal - Flat 7, HHS 25; Fouls - Flat 3, HHS 8; Goalie saves - Flat (Karli Kustler) 6; HHS (Poe Hildreth, Taelar Therriault) 4.

BOYS

Flathead 0 1 - 1

Helena 0 0 - 0

Flat - Cameron Clevedince, 56:00

Shots on goal - Flat 9, HHS 9; Fouls - Flat 7, HHS 13; Goalie saves - Flat (Jordan Remington) 2, HHS (Riley Sheldon) 3.

Reporter Curt Synness: 449-2150 or email curt52s@bresnan.net