Hi-Line United heads to Montana State Cup

The 2015 season for the Hi-Line United U19 and U14 teams is coming to an end seemingly right after it began. But, after taking on teams all across the state of Montana for the past two months, both teams will finish their seasons this weekend in Livingston at the Montana State Cup.

The U19 tournament will feature six teams and the United will kick off the tournament Saturday morning when they take on Red Lodge at 8 a.m. Then, the team will finish group play later Saturday as they go head-to-head against Sidney at 3 p.m. The U14 team, on the other hand, will start the State Cup Saturday at 1:15 p.m., against Sidney, followed by a match against Big Timber at 4:45 p.m.

The U19 team has struggled to earn favorable results this season in large part due to the difficulty of their schedule. Due to scheduling conflicts, the United had to play a lot of select teams, which are a league above the United. And while at times, it was a struggle, it gave the team some good experience to build upon.

“We ended up playing a lot of select teams, which are literally out of our league,” U19 head coach John Harkins said. “But, it was a good experience for us. We had some competitive games against a few of those teams, which shows we can compete with anyone.”

The United have also had issues with injuries recently and last weekend, they went into action with just one substitute. Then, when star player Trey Scofield, who has scored 16 goals this season for Havre, suffered an injury and had to be removed from action, the team ended up shorthanded after some others missed action due to cramping.

However, the United will be full strength this weekend as Scofield and the rest of the team should all be ready to go as they look to close out their season on a high note

“The past few years we have really come together at state and played well,” Scofield said. “Hopefully, we can come together again and win one of our first two games. It will be difficult because Red Lodge and Sidney are probably the two toughest teams in our league, but if we win one of those games, we will be in the semifinals.”

In addition to Scofield, the rest of the roster that will travel to Livingston includes Marcio Camara, Alec Drew, Trinnity Gobin, Marriah Hindman, Corey Lloyd, Michelle Rainey, Brandon Robertson, Trenton Smith, Olivia Snyder, Mitchell Woods, Steven David, Juan Valdez, Clifford Lenhardt and Lawrence Ilarduque.

The other opening round matchups Saturday include Laurel against Miles City, Laurel versus Big Timber and Miles City against Big Timer in Group A. Group B includes Havre, Sidney and Red Lodge. The top two teams in each group will make the semifinals, while the third-place teams in each group will play for fifth place Sunday morning at 9:45 a.m.

The U14 team, which is led by head coach Jayson Burrington will compete in Group B against Sidney and Big Timber, while Group A includes Miles City, Red Lodge and Laurel. Just like with the U19 tournament, the semifinals and championship game, as well as the fifth-place game will all be on Sunday.

The U14 team will bring Sean Borrero, Mick Chagnon, August Eacker, Christina Fisk, Cole Hanson, Collin Hindman, Kati Hindman, Sawyer Manuel, Max Olson, Rhoda Peterson, Brianna Rainey, Rowland Snyder, Torek Swensen, Gabe Triplett, J.J. Triplett and Sylvia Wilting.