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By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Managing Editor

HELENA – The Helena girls soccer team started the 2023 season with a bang on Thursday, Feb. 2 thanks to a hat trick from freshman Kate Hendrix.

The Huskies scored early and often with Hendrix scoring her first career goal and then two additional goals to total three of the team’s five in a 5-2 victory over the Leeds Greenwave.

Despite the rainy night, it marked an impressive start to the season for the Huskies, who took a 1-0 lead on a header with just more than 30 minutes left in the opening period.

Leeds did come back to even the score 1-1 a few minutes later, however. The Huskies looked like they were going to have a strong chance at a 2-0 lead, but Leeds was able to push the ball up the field with 25 minutes left in the half that ended with the Greenwave beating the Helena keeper high up in the box for an easy open shot.

Helena was able to answer 10 minutes later to regain the lead late in the half. After a scrum for the ball 30 yards from the goal, that ended with a ball popped into the air off a header and eventually led to a breakaway goal that slipped past the keeper’s right foot.

That became the final goal of the opening half, as the Huskies took a one-goal lead and the momentum into the halftime break.

They then carried that momentum into the second half.

Within the first 16 minutes of the half, the Huskies added two more goals to their total and took a 4-1 lead with 24 minutes to play.

Leeds did add one more goal in a game that turned defensive down the stretch, but the Greenwave got no closer than two goals the rest of the way.

Helena went on to finish off the game with one final goal to pick up the three-goal win to open the season.

Outside of Hendrix’s hat trick, Baileigh Rumage and Miah Rosener each started the season with one goal.