NORTH LOGAN — It took a little while for the Mustangs to bounce back, but an early deficit didn’t seem to deter them one bit.
After all, a 1-0 hole doesn’t seem so daunting for a team that’s been scoring goals like Mountain Crest has during the 2021 campaign.
The Mustangs caught a break on their equalizer 19 minutes after falling behind 1-0, but they looked sharp in the second half in their way to a hard-fought 3-1 victory over Green Canyon in a Region 11 girls soccer match on Thursday evening. In the process, the Mustangs (10-1, 5-0) were able to sweep their season series with the Wolves (4-6, 2-2).
“My team came to play tonight, I think, and they did,” said MC head coach Amber Hyatt, whose side has netted multiple goals in all 11 of its matches. “They played well, they played together ... and I’m proud of them.”
Mountain Crest fired off 10 shots in the opening half, but only managed to put one of them on frame, although a Baylie Baldwin offering did ping off the crossbar. That one shot on goal was a long free kick by Avrie Selvage that Green Canyon goalkeeper Haylee Anderson got both hands, but it somehow deflected into the goal.
“It was frustrating because we did have our opportunities and we just weren’t finding the frame, but I also felt like we were controlling a lot of that first half, so I wasn’t too frustrated yet,” Hyatt said. “But it was definitely nicer to see in the second half that when we had our chances, we were able to finish them.”
The Wolves struck first on a back post volley by Cambree Tensmeyer in the eighth minute. The Mustangs were unable to clear a corner kick and Lizzie Seeley whipped in a cross to an unmarked Tensmeyer, who finished to give Green Canyon its second 1-0 lead over Mountain Crest this season.
Selvage equalized in the 28th minute for the Mustangs, who struggled defending a couple of Green Canyon’s corner kicks — the hosts nearly capitalized on another corner — but was rock solid defensively in the run of play.
“The backline always does a good job,” Hyatt said. “They always are so solid. I never have to worry about my defense. They love to play with each other, too, so they’re used to each other, they trust each other and they’re good to fill it for each other if mistakes happen, and they did a good job of that tonight.”
Mountain Crest came out strong in the second half and netted both of its goals in the first 10 minutes.
The go-ahead goal was set up by a brilliant counter attack that spanned nearly the entire length of the field. The end result of that counter was a Hadli Barrera shot that Green Canyon keeper Haylee Anderson deftly punched over the crossbar. However, the Mustangs capitalized on the ensuing corner kick when Barrera got inside her mark at the near post and redirected in the service by Amelia Zilles in the 45th minute.
The visitors struck again five minutes later when speedster Baylie Baldwin tracked down a ball into space down the left wing, cut inside and found Barrera in the middle of the 18-yard box. The freshman’s one-time effort looped over Anderson and barely underneath the crossbar for a 3-1 Mustang advantage.
“I feel like a lot of it came from us using our width and getting the ball across the field and using each other to score,” Baldwin said. “Instead of it being like one person dribbling, it was us using each other, and I feel like teamwork definitely played a big part in our win tonight.”
Anderson made five saves in the second half for the Wolves, suggesting just how much more accurate the Mustangs were with their scoring opportunities during the final 40 minutes of action.
“I think they were better for most of the game than us, but right there at the end we had two chances to (score), pretty good chances, and we just didn’t,” GC assistant coach Kirt Sadler said. “... But they’ve got a nasty attack. I mean, you lose the ball here, they don’t attack with numbers. They just go. They may have two, so they go with two, so they’re hard to defend. And we’ve got to defend a little better ... but they’re a good team.”
Indeed, the Wolves had a pair of legitimate chances to find the back of the net, including a breakaway by Kyleigh Hastings when they only trailed 2-1. The speedy freshman timed her challenge perfectly and ended up creating a one-v-one for herself, but she slotted her shot wide of the right post. Later in the half, Emma DeBerard lofted in an extremely dangerous free kick to the back post and missed the upper 90 by a few inches.
“We’re getting our chances,” said Sadler, whose team lost a 2-1 heartbreaker to Mountain Crest on Sept. 7. “I would be a lot more concerned saying, ‘well, we never get shots on goal.’ We got the chances to tie the game. If we score the one that we had with Kyleigh on the breakaway, that’s 2-2 and the whole match changes.”
OTHER REGION MATCHES
Ridgeline (6-4, 4-0) traveled to Smithfield and left with a 4-2 win over Sky View (6-6, 0-5), while Logan (4-7, 2-3) outlasted visiting Bear River (3-8, 1-4) in a shootout. The match was scoreless after 80 minutes and a pair of 10-minute overtime periods. The shootout ended up going six rounds, to boot, with the Grizzlies prevailing, 4-3.
Addie Zollinger recorded a brace for the Riverhawks, who are only a half game behind the Mustangs for the top spot in the region standings. The senior netted one goal in each half for Ridgeline, which jumped out to leads of 2-0 and 3-1.
The Bobcats pared their two-goal deficit to one on two occasions, but Ridgeline’s Caitlyn Parry scored directly off a corner kick in the 77th minute to slam the door. Taylor Miller also buried shots for the Riverhawks, who got assists from Emilee Skinner and Kayt Ward.
“A very good game defensively from front to back,” RHS head coach Mark Tureson said. “Very proud of their commitment to each other and to the system. Sky View is an excellent team that competes so hard. They never quit or back down. We had to play at our best tonight.”
Reese Thurston headed in a Macy Hellstern corner kick for Sky View’s first goal. Mia Morrison also found the back of the net for the Bobcats, assisted by Laney Gibbons.
Ridgeline won the first meeting between the two teams, 2-1 in overtime.
“It’s coming together for us,” SV head coach Jillian Carver said. “Unfortunately, the score doesn’t reflect how well we played, but I’m proud of how these girls play this game. They are so good and we are coming together.”
Meanwhile, the Grizzlies found a way to beat the Bears in a much different game than the first one eight days ago — a 5-2 Logan victory in Garland. Emma Browning, Onyx Kennington, Milly Garren and Aliza Dana converted from the penalty spot for Logan, which got one big save in the shootout from Garren.
It was the Grizzlies’ first clean sheet of the season.
“Wow, what a game,” LHS head coach Natalie Norris said. “That was a hard-fought battle on both sides. Bear River played a heck of a game. I’m really proud of my girls for stepping up and gritting it out. They showed a lot of heart and I’m so happy we finally got a shutout.”