Lehi Sports
Ogden saves lift Pioneer girls soccer to shootout win
Beky Beaton / Lehi Free Press
The Lehi High School girls soccer team prevailed in a tense shootout for their final pre-league match and then lost a lively contest on the road to open Region 3 play.
Aug. 26: Lehi 1, Layton 1 (SO 3-1)
The Pioneers battled the Lancers through a scoreless first half. Each team netted one goal during the second period, and neither could find the target during two extra periods, bringing on the shootout.
After playing 100 minutes of soccer, senior goalkeeper Madi Ogden blocked three Layton penalty kicks to help hand Lehi the dramatic victory.
During regulation time, sophomore forward Emeri Thatcher scored the lone Pioneer goal with an assist from sophomore defender Tessa Richards.
Sophomore midfielder Cali Ashton, senior midfielder Amarie Simmons and senior defender Hallie Schmidt converted penalty kicks for Lehi in the shootout.
Sept. 4: Corner Canyon 5, Lehi 3
In the Region 3 opener for both squads, the teams were knotted 1-1 at the break after a hard-fought first half. The home team doubled up the Pioneers in the second period to earn the win.
Sophomore forward Lillie Watson hit the target first for Lehi off a give from junior midfielder Lexi Beaudin. Watson scored again off a pass from Thatcher, then returned the favor by feeding Thatcher for the third Lehi goal. Ogden manned the net for the duration of the match.
“This was a good battle,” said Coach Jonas Hartmann. “It was very even most of the time and while I think we created more chances than they did, we didn’t manage to finish more of them.
“Three goals should be enough to win the game,” he added. “We had little breakdowns that led to goals for them that we need to sort out. I would say for 70 of 80 minutes we played great soccer, so we have lots to build on.” The Pioneers will continue the Region 3 schedule on Tuesday (Sept. 9) when they welcome Lone Peak at 7 p.m. Lehi will visit Skyridge on Thursday (Sept. 11) at 3:30 p.m. The Pioneers are 7-4 overall.
