Falcon girls soccer splits pre-region matches

Beky Beaton | Lehi Free Press

The Skyridge girls soccer team hosted back-to-back matches to open the fall campaign last week, winning the first but dropping the second to non-region opponents.

“I am excited about our potential this year,” said Coach Toby Peterson. “We have a lot of returning talent whose experience should serve us well in the difficult season we have ahead of us.

“The final alignment really tied our hands this year with respect to the non-region schedule,” he continued. “Region 2 was so big, they couldn’t schedule very many non-region games so that left us scheduling games against Region 1 or forcing us to travel north or south to play 4A schools.

“We elected to play Region 1 games because they were in the same boat as us but that is going to make for some tough battles,” the coach said. “This group is up for the challenge though. They have been working hard during the off-season and they are excited to get going.”

Aug. 5: Skyridge 3, Bingham 2 (2OT)

The Falcons got started with a barn-burner against the Miners. The first half was scoreless as Falcon junior goalkeeper Sydney Finlayson was able to hold off the visitors.

She was replaced in the second half by junior Bailey Jenkins. Both teams increased pressure on the net after the break and each hit the target twice, leaving the game knotted at 2-2 and bringing on overtime.

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With Finlayson back between the pipes, Bingham was unable to score again. Finlayson notably turned back a penalty kick at some point during the contest.

The home squad posted a golden goal in the second overtime to collect the win. Junior forward Lexi Blood scored twice for Skyridge, and senior midfielder AJ Beard notched the other goal, also making one assist along with junior defender Gracie Watts.

Aug. 6: Snow Canyon 4, Skyridge 2

The next day, the visiting Warriors took a 3-1 lead in the first period and never looked back. The opponents each found the net once after the break, but the Falcons were unable to reduce the deficit.

Blood scored once with a give from Beard and also assisted  junior midfielder Whitney Jaussi, who made the other goal for Skyridge.

The Falcons continue pre-region play this week at Syracuse Tuesday (Aug. 12) at 3:30 p.m. followed by a visit to Springville Thursday (Aug. 14) for a 7 p.m. kickoff. Skyridge will host Woods Cross Saturday (Aug. 16) at 10 a.m.