Lehi Sports
Pioneer girls soccer wins thriller over Falcons
The Lehi High School girls soccer team prevailed in a shootout over visiting Skyridge for Senior Night before dropping their final two matches of the regular season.
The Pioneers finished tied for fourth place with Pleasant Grove in Region 3 with a 4-6 record and were 5-11 overall. The tournament bracket is scheduled to be released on Saturday.
Sept. 19: Lehi 2, Skyridge 2 (SO 5-3)
In this exciting contest, the teams played even through the initial period. “During the break, we all agreed if we could up the intensity and effort, we could get something from this game,” said Lehi Coach Jonas Hartmann.
“We came out strong in the second half and battled for about 15 minutes before we found the reward with a great goal by Erin Dahl from a beautiful pass from Izze Dahl. Shortly after we scored again on a free kick from Erin, an absolute beauty, and at that point I felt that we had the game under control.
“Our second goal got Skyridge fired up and they got a goal with about 20 minutes left which made us a bit nervous, but we kept battling,” the coach continued.
“Five minutes later Skyridge got a second goal on what looked like a foul on our keeper but after a long conversation between the referee and linesman they decided to give them the goal. That really saw our girls find the energy again and they battled hard for the rest of the half.”
Both teams had chances before regulation time ran out and during the two overtime periods, but neither was able to find the target.
“Our girls really fought for each other to get the result we deserved,” Hartmann said. “It was two really competitive overtime periods that could have had goals at both ends but the game was forced to PKs.”
Senior Brynnly Larsen was up first for the Pioneers and made her try but the first Falcon shot was blocked by junior keeper Kate Williams.
After that huge save, sophomore Amarie Simmons, senior Erin Dahl and sophomore Izze Dahl all converted on their kicks and so did their Skyridge counterparts, so it all came down to the fifth-round try. Junior Adelle Grimley stepped up and buried it, touching off a wild celebration for her team.
“Tonight was a huge win for our girls,” Hartmann said. “It was senior night and we really wanted to get a result for them and for the team as it was our last home game.
“From the start we were able to match them in effort and we played our best soccer of the season, creating more chances than in previous games. Today was a win that we really wanted and worked super hard for.
“We are connecting much better and creating chances and looking to score and win rather than sitting back,” the coach added. “Some of our set plays are really working for us and the girls are progressing at a rapid pace every week. Hard work was rewarded today with an amazing win for us.”
Sept. 26: Pleasant Grove 2, Lehi 0
The Vikings were able to score twice in the first period on their best tries and though the Pioneers created more opportunities, they weren’t able to get any of them into the net. “This was a tough loss, but Pleasant Grove deserves credit for finishing off their chances,” Hartmann said.
“We had Kelsey (Badger, jr.) back in goal for a half after being out two games and she kept a clean sheet,” he went on. “Erin had multiple great chances and played really solid. I would highlight junior Kanani Haunga today too on defense as she was a rock.”
The Pioneers had to play the undefeated region champion Knights on the road to close out the regular season. Lone Peak is 16-1 overall and one of the top favorites to take the 6A crown. The Knights scored twice in each half against the visitors.
“This game was closer than it sounds,” Hartmann said. “The girls battled really well today. I was proud of them playing even for large parts of the game with the number one team in the state. A couple of small blunders led to goals, but we are happywith our effort.”
