The Glacier United U-12 boys and girls teams dominated the Montana State Cup in Kalispell this past weekend, winning their divisions.

The U-12 boys team, coached by Peter Steele and Gary Danczyk, came out of Saturday's games with a 1-1 record — a 6-2 loss to the Missoula Strikers Red team and a solid win against the Helena Arsenal Gold.

Sunday morning they were paired up again with Helena, which was much inspired by a good night's rest. The see-saw game ended in a 5-5 tie. Glacier won the resulting shoot-out, with Glacier goalie Liam Evans saving what would have been Helena's winning shot.

The Sunday morning win pitted Glacier up against the dominant Missoula Strikers team for the championship. Glacier had played against the Strikers three times through the season, losing all three games.

Glacier brought their best game to the field. Goals from Adam Koziol and Alex Moser, who played with the Strikers last year, coupled with strong goal-keeping by Drew Galbraith, led Glacier to a 2-1 win over the Strikers and the title of Montana Cup Champions.

The coaches said the boys brought the game together and peaked their play at the right time.

The Glacier United U-12 girls team's journey to the final game began Saturday morning with a decisive win over their first opponent. However, it nearly ended in a loss later in the day.

Saturday evening found the girls playing a closely contested match against a tough Missoula Strikers team. After falling behind early 0-2, the Glacier girls forged a comeback to win 3-2. All three of the Glacier goals came as a result of well executed combination plays or crosses, which allowed Jordan Carper to send the ball into the back of the net.

The game remained tied for much of the game, with the winning goal coming near the end of the second half. Strong play in goal by Nikki Bates and Sterling Bax, along with tenacious defense supplied by Carly Ann Raper and Lindsay Jones, preserved the win.

The Glacier girls faced Missoula again in Sunday's final match, and again fell behind early 0-1. Regulation play ended with the two teams locked in a 1-1 tie after 60 minutes of aggressive soccer.

The tie was not broken until the last minute of the second overtime period, when Jordan Carper tallied the winning score from 18 yards out after receiving a well placed cross from one of her teammates. The sharp goal keeping of Danielle McCully in the two overtime periods helped to maintain the margin of victory at 2-1.

The mid-field was anchored throughout the weekend by the quick, smart play of Alayna Voight and McKenzie Kiser. Maggie Frankantino's heads-up play at both the mid-field and forward positions contributed significantly to all three victories for the Glacier girls.

The State Cup victory caps an up-and-down season for the U-12 girls, and definitely points towards great things in their future.