Start of 2010 Girls' Soccer Season

Timp Sports Weekly
August 17, 2010

Publisher's Message

This week's issue deals primarily with the opening of the 2010 high school girls' soccer season. For this issue, we look at the Awesome American Fork Cavewomen, Ferocious Pleasant Grove Vikings, and the Lehi Pioneers, AKA the Froggies. With that said, let's, as they say in Lehi, hop right into stories from last week's thrilling soccer action.

Dean Von Memmott
Publisher
deanmemmott@hotmail.com

Lehi Pioneers Open Preseason Soccer Play With 2 Wins at Home
By Dean Von Memmott
Timp Sports Weekly Publisher

AKA the Froggies, the Lehi Pioneers opened their girls' soccer season with two wins at home last week. On Aug. 12, Lehi washed out the Woods Cross Wildcats, AKA Wild Kittens, 2-0. The Pioneers then finished out their week with a 1-0 over the Snow Canyon Warriors, AKA the Flakies, in a double overtime thriller Aug. 14.

The Aug. 14 game went down as a classic rematch between the Pioneers and Flakies. The last time that the two teams met, it was in a contest for the privilege of playing the state 4-A semifinals. Lehi shut Snow Canyon out 1-0 in that quarterfinal contest. However, this time, bragging rights were the only things on the line for the Aug. 14 game.

Nevertheless, the Warriors still played as if they were battling for a fresh chance for making to the Final Four of the state 4-A girls' playoffs. Led by Celcilee Horlacher, Callie Stewart, and Autumn Shipp, the Flakies put much pressure on the Froggies' defense. However, Snow Canyon couldn't dry up defensive efforts.

Lehi Coach Brett Bergholm said, "Our defensive effort was much better today than it was against Woods Cross. In the Woods Cross game, we made some mistakes early, but we managed to correct them in time before they could do us any serious damage. We didn't make any mistakes on defense today."

Lehi goalie Ali Houghton didn't let Horlacher make any goals in indirect kicks. In an exhibition game on the Ferocious Pleasant Grove Vikings' field the night before, she had scored on an indirect kick in the final two minutes, giving the Flakies a 2-1 win over the Ferocious Vikings.

Houghton also held her own against Shipp, Stewart, and Jaycie Shotwell. Houghton's biggest save occurred when she picked off a direct shot that Shotwell booted in the second half.

Lehi came really close to leaping ahead during the first half. In its final minutes, for example, both Pioneers Mikaela Kauffman and Dylan Downs dribbled into the penalty box, only to be thwarted by Tori Berger and Brooke Merrill respectively.

In the second half, the Froggies' efforts got checked by shots bouncing off goal posts and zooming out of bounds. Lehi's breathtaking defense kept the Flakies from scoring any goals in regulation.

The game went into overtime. In both overtime periods, Lehi kept the ball on Snow Canyon's side most of the time. Flaky Arianna Weide almost ended the game in the first overtime when she passed to Horlacher for a direct shot. It flew into Houghton's hands. The catch forced the game into the second overtime.

A minute into it, Lehi maneuvered the ball into the Flakies' penalty box, and Michelle Russon kicked in a shot that ended the game and caused spontaneous celebration among the Froggies.

Orem Tiggers Bounced Past Ferocious PG Vikings 2-1 in Preseason Soccer Opener

By Dean Von Memmott

Timp Sports Weekly Publisher

AKA the Tiggers, the Orem Tigers had plenty of reason to be bouncing for joy in their Aug. 10 preseason opener at home. In that game, they overpowered the Ferocious Pleasant Grove Vikings, embedded with only two seniors.

Viking assistant coach Kaycee Zimmerman said, "I'm pleased that our defense worked together. We just need to be finding a way to get the girls to stay on offense. We got to work a little harder in pushing the ball up the field, so we can be able to finish more shots. We're going to be working on opportunities for scoring."

Ferocious Viking Kourtney Dinehart opened the game with a deep drive right through the middle of the Tiggers territory. However, Tigger goalie Hilary Smith snuffed out that attack. Tiggers Monique Bori and Vicky Cuello led attempts at bouncing all over the Ferocious Viking defense. Led by Britney Johnson, Alicia Daniles, and goalie Kennedy Williams, Pleasant Grove kept the Tiggers from dominating the first half completely. The Ferocious Vikings came really close to breaking the scoreless draw in the first half when Dinehart took a direct shot at the mouth of the goal. Getting into the way of the shot, Smith intercepted the ball as the referee sounded the end of the half.

Four minutes into the second half, Tigger Rosalie Jones scored the game's first goal. It gave the Tiggers much momentum. For a considerable while, they kept the ball on Pleasant Grove's end of the field. The combined efforts of Williams and Johnson kept the Tiggers from stretching lead to 2-0.

Midway through the half, Ferocious Viking Bekhah Webster tied the game at one. Daniels led attempts to break the 1-1 tie. However, Smith proved to be too quick for the Vikings. She didn't let a single Ferocious Viking sneak any further shots past her.

In the meantime, the game stay deadlocked until 3:49 when Megan Sackett put the Tiggers ahead 2-1. Sackett's shot shocked the Ferocious Vikings so much that they couldn't get an effective defense together.

Mountain View Teddy Bears Shut Out Awesome AF Cavewomen 3-0 in Preseason Girls' Soccer

By Dean Von Memmott

Timp Sports Weekly Publisher

The Awesome American Fork Cavewomen opened their girls' soccer season with a heartbreaking loss to the Mountain Bruins, AKA the Teddy Bears or T-Bears. Mountain View shut the Ae

Awesome Cavewoman Coach Becca Murdock said, "I saw today some bits and pieces of great things we're capable of doing. We need to see more offense from our girls. They're a very young team. They just need to get more varsity experience."

The first 20 minutes of the game went down as a deadlocked goalkeeping duel between T-Bear Sherri Riggs and Awesome Cavewoman Kirsten Newman, a "distant" cousin of movie star Paul Newman and Alfred E. "Me Worried?" Newman of Mad magazine fame. The two goalies' combined efforts kept fans wondering whether T-Bears or the Awesome Cavewomen would score first. At the 20:00 mark, Teddy Bear Lexi Robinson scored the afternoon's first goal during an indirect kick. Further T-Bear attempts for scoring a first-period goal all failed. Before halftime, T-Bear Kiouna Christensen went on a breakaway play. A relative to former American Fork wrestler Justin "The Ferocious" Brocious, Lauren Brocious, the Awesome Cavewomen put up a strong defense that kept the Teddy Bears stuck on their 1-0 lead.

With Kanaui Munoz organizing a deep T-Bear attack at the start of the second, American Fork lost control of the momentum. Sinking their claws deep into it, the Teddy Bears spent most of the final period on the Cavewomen's side of the field. Early in the period, McKell Salmon scored her first goal. She delivered the knockout blow with a shot from just outside the American Fork penalty box several minutes before the final whistle.

American Fork got some great offensive efforts from Jenn Packham, Kylie Dibb, and Meagan Hendircks, no relation to the late rock legend Jimi Hendrix. However, Riggs was just to quick for the Cavewomen to handle.

Snow Canyon Freezes Ferocious PG Vikings 2-1 in PG Home Opener Aug. 13

By Dean Von Memmott

Timp Sports Weekly Publisher

AKA the Flakies, the Snow Canyon Warriors froze the Ferocious Pleasant Grove Vikings 2-1 in a preseason girls' soccer game at Pleasant Grove's Viking Stadium Aug. 13.

The loss came in the aftermath of the Vikings' preseason loss to the Orem Tigers, AKA the Tiggers, at Orem Aug. 10. Pleasant Grove had hoped to get over its pain by winning at home against Snow Canyon, based in St. George, home of the Dixie State College Red Storm, AKA the Partyin' Red Storm.

Pleasant Grove dominated the first half of the Snow Canyon game. The Vikings kept stabbing deep into Warrior territory. However, Flaky Amy Harris kept the Ferocious PG girls from getting onto the board until the final five minutes. Around that time, Viking Lydia Anderson passed to Sam Daly for a successful shot kicked from inside the penalty box.

In the second half, the Vikings became stuck on their 1-0 lead. Despite strong offensive efforts from Kourtney Dinehart, Megan Wilde,Marci Johnson, Shelby Hilton, and Alyssa Taylor, Pleasant Grove couldn't sneak any shots past Harris.

During both halves of the game, the Flakies got strong offensive efforts from Callie Stewart and Cecilee Horlacher. Those two players eventually sealed the game's outcome. In the last 10 minutes, Stewart tied the game at one. She then kicked in another goal, which got canceled by a Snow Canyon penalty. The setback proved to be only a minor inconvenience for the Flakies. During the final two minutes, Pleasant Grove drew a foul in its penalty. Horlacher thereupon kicked in a goal to win the game for Snow Canyon.

On the next morning, the Flakies would get washed out 1-0 by Lehi.

Ferocious Vike Kickers Score 2 Wins August 14

By Dean Von Memmott

Timp Sports Weekly Publisher

It took the Ferocious Pleasant Grove Vikings only one day to post a two-game winning streak in girls' soccer. Still smarting from their 2-1 loss to the Snow Canyon Warriors, AKA the Flakies the night before, the Vikings cruised back Aug. 14 to win 3-1 over the Uintah Utes, AKA the Little Braves, and 3-1 over the Pine View Panthers, AKA the Kittens.

Pleasant Grove Coach Caitlin Young said, "In the Uintah game, they [the Little Braves] scored first. Marci Johnson tied it for us. Sam Daly kicked in a goal to put us ahead 2-1. Taylor Kirk scored the third goal to clutch it for us."

For the Pine View game, the Kittens controlled the first half. With Kitten goalie Jessica Stone keeping every Ferocious Viking shot from flying across the line, Pine View improved its chances for scoring first. Midway through the opening period, Kitten Karlee Brundage booted in a goal from inside the Viking penalty box. The successful shot pumped the Kittens up so much that they put more pressure on Viking goalie Kennedy Williams. She didn't let Pine View jack up the score, though, no matter how many times Kittens Kali Stubbs, Tahlia Egbert, and Taylor Wade led deep drives into the Ferocious Vikings' territory .

Williams got much support from Britney Johnson, Lucy Borland and Kourtney Dinehart during the first period. Those Vikings kept stealing the ball and dribbling it onto the Kitten side of the field. Borland even tied tying the score just before halftime, but three Kittens harassed her so much that she couldn't find a spot for a good shot selection.

The Vikings' ferociousness finally paid off. Thirty seconds into the second half, Marci Johnson booted in a goal. The game stayed tied at one until 19:32 when Johnson scored her second goal. Unrelated to Marci, Britney scored the third Ferocious Viking goal in the last five minutes. Stubbs led a desperate, comeback effort. However, Pleasant Grove snuffed it out.

Young said, "We did a better job of finishing our shots tonight. When we have possession of the ball, we should finish as quickly as we can. Though they're not related, Marci and Britney have proved to be big pluses for our team. Britney sparks our defense and Marci is the creator of our offense. They proved that to be true tonight."