MISSOULA — For the eighth straight year, the Missoula Hellgate Knights are headed to the boys Class AA state soccer championship game after they defeated Billings West 1-0 on Tuesday night at Fort Missoula Regional Park.
The Knights came into the game as the top seed from the Western AA while the Golden Bears were the Eastern AA's No. 2 seed.
Cameron Newbold's goal in the 30th minute proved to be enough as Hellgate earned the win and will play Kalispell Glacier on Saturday for the state title in Missoula. The Knights are the two-time defending state champs and have won five of the last seven championship matches they've appeared in. Head coach Jay Anderson won his 200th career match as the Knights head coach in the opening round when Hellgate beat Kalispell Flathead 9-0. They followed that up with a 2-1 victory over Billings Senior in the quarterfinal round.
Marcus Anderson was credited with the assist for Newbold's goal.
Hellgate's Loren Deskins finished the game with four saves in goal while West's Kasey Meier finished with five. The Golden Bears had seven corner kick opportunities in the match.
Glacier comes into the game after topping Bozeman 2-1 in the other Class AA boys semifinal.
