Lehi Sports
Falcon girls soccer opens year with new coach
Beky Beaton / Lehi Free Press
The Skyridge girls soccer team is starting out with a new head coach as Jhoan Alvizo, a Spanish and Portuguese teacher at the school, takes over from Toby Peterson, who retired after the season ended last year.
Alvizo said he’s looking forward to relying on a strong senior class. “We have many seniors who will be contributing so much, whether starting or coming off the bench,” he said. “All of them can make an impact to help our team be successful this year.”
One name to watch for will be senior Bentley Knight. “She is one of our strongest players on this team and will help the midfield in what we are trying to get our girls to do tactically,” Alvizo said.
Others who are likely to play key roles this season include senior Lexi Blood on attack, junior Hallee Sheffield in the midfield and senior Gracie Watts on defense. All four of these players will provide a solid foundation of experience and leadership for the team.
Blood was the squad’s leading scorer last season with eight goals and one assist. Sheffield helped control the ball both directions through the middle of the field and added two goals and an assist. Watts had one assist from her position on the back line.
Alvizo knows the league competition will be tough. “Region 3 is always the region of death with so many good teams, but it gives us the challenge to make us play the best we can and really helps us prep for the knockout stages of the season,” he said.
The Falcons open pre-region play this week when they welcome Olympus Tuesday (Aug. 4) at 5 p.m. for the varsity match.
Skyridge will then head south for a three-match road trip to the St. George area. The Falcons will visit Desert Hills for an 8 p.m. game on Thursday (Aug. 6), continue at Crimson Cliffs on Friday for another 8 p.m. start time and then finish up on Saturday with a 7:30 p.m. contest at Snow Canyon.
The team will play three more matches before opening the Region 3 campaign at Lehi on Sept. 1 at 3:30 p.m.
