Over the past weekend, the Hellgate Knights Varsity boys team took state with a 2-1 win against Bozeman in the final. It was a hard fought season for the boys, but they came out on top and it was a well deserved win. Last season was the Knights last season with their two star players Matt Baldridge and Cole Hage. “Since we knew there were a lot of doubts about our team after losing Matt and Cole thinking it would be a rebuilding year for Hellgate and we wanted to prove them wrong” -Jonah Teasdale. 

     In the playoffs before state this year Hellgate only let one goal in, and that was during the final. The team chemistry and the fluidity of the playstyle that they were able to reach allowed them to have a lockdown defense and very swift attacks to goal on offense. Bozeman had a similar playstyle, but they left a pretty sizable gap in midfield, allowing center-mids Beckett Arthur, Lars Thorne-Thompson and Dane Becker to possess and play the ball out wide. There were also several plays from Reggie Duce making a run across Bozeman’s back line and having a ball send him through.

     Bozeman had several more chances in the last 30 minutes to tie up what ended as a 2-1 game. Hellgates Keeper Brendan Oberg had 6 in the final which were all on goal so Brendan really came up clutch in the final, and during the whole season. 

     “Our team came out really strong, with two goals super early, and we started to die down, but Jay put me into defensive center-mid with Dane allowing us to stay locked down” said Beckett Arthur. 

     The Knights had a very strong season on the field, allowing them to prepare for the state championship. “We were really strong defensively the whole season with Felix Hahn and Campbell Rolston-Clemmer as center backs” -Brendan Oberg the Knights keeper. 

     Coming home with a win, the Hellgate Knights boys varsity hope to end next season with a second consecutive state win, but there will be a lot of tough competition.