By Jason Turner
Published:
Wednesday, September 2, 2009 3:16 AM CDT
As fast as Jessica Hoskin is, it’s really easy for opponents of the Mountain Crest girls soccer team to focus on containing the senior forward.
That’s when players like Randi Kendrick have been able to rise to the occasion so far this season.
Kendrick scored two goals in the final 10 minutes of the match, propelling Mountain Crest to a hard-fought 3-1 victory over Logan in the Region 5 opener for both teams Tuesday night at Crimson Field.
“We’ve been working on that for quite some time ... because we know they’re keying on Jess because she’s fast, and they were watching her and they were doubling her,” MC head coach Dennis Giles said. “And here Randi steps up the way she did, and that’s what we need. And we’ve got a lot of kids capable of doing it, there’s a lot of them out there.”
The Mustangs have indeed proven they have a lot of players who can be dangerous in the attack, and that’s a big reason why they are now 4-0 on the campaign. Seven different players have already scored for Mountain Crest.
“Every single person on our team wanted to win,” Kendrick said. “This is a big game for us and our first region game, so we just came together as a team and everybody said they were going to work their butt off and just do their part.”
As for the Grizzlies (2-4, 0-1 region), it wasn’t the ending they were hoping for, but they improved substantially after setbacks to Morgan and Springville last week.
“I think we did a lot better,” LHS goalkeeper Taylor Anderson said. “In our practices lately, we’ve been focusing more on making it harder for each other and pressuring each other more, and I think our unity is getting better.”
Anderson was certainly a big reason why it was anyone’s match when the 70th minute rolled around. The senior was outstanding, coming off her line on a handful of occasions, with no regard for her body, to thwart dangerous Mustang attacks.
“That’s what we’ve been talking about is ... owning the goal, and no matter who’s shooting at you, you are telling yourself you are going to deny them that goal,” LHS head coach Mitch Peterson said. “It could be your teammate in practice, it doesn’t matter who it is. I mean, you have to take ownership of (the goal), and Taylor did that tonight.”
Unfortunately for Anderson and the Grizzlies, Kendrick was also up to the challenge. Logan spent the majority of the final 25 minutes or so chasing Mountain Crest, and Peterson felt his players got a little winded.
As a result, Kendrick was able to get behind the Logan back line on a through ball at the 71:35 mark. Kendrick’s initial shot was stopped by Anderson, but No. 10 stuck with the play and scored.
With less than two minutes to go in the game, Kendrick settled a pass from Hoskin and buried an absolutely perfect shot into the upper 90 of the far post.
“Logan, they were much better than I thought they were going to be,” Giles said. “... They’ve got some great players out there. I’m impressed with them, and they’ll be coming at us again, I’m sure. They put it together and they did well, but we finally came through and got our timing down and got them in the goal.”
Mountain Crest’s first goal was equally as impressive as the last. Kendrick tracked down a corner ball on the right side of the pitch, laid it back to Hoskin, who immediately crossed it to Mindi Beckstrom. Beckstrom then one-timed a volley just inside the far post.
The Mustangs were controlling the possession battle until the 21st. That’s when Maddie Daines headed a ball to Tonya Anderson behind the MC backline, and Anderson fired a shot past keeper Kjersty Cook from 12 yards out.
Logan then proceeded to win the possession battle for the rest of the opening half.
“I think all it did was give us the little confidence that we needed, and the realization to slow down and get back into our game,” Peterson said. “... Right then, we realized, ‘Oh, OK, we are in this thing.’”
Like her counterpart, Cook was solid in goal. The junior made four saves, including two in which she had to dive to deny well-driven shots by Sam Emmett.
Logan welcomed back senior Jordan Hartman, who had missed the first five matches recovering from surgery on her left arm.
Lakers 3, Bobcats 1
Take away the first 20 minutes and visiting Sky View outplayed the defending 4A state champions, SV head coach Doyle Geddes said. However, a trio of goals by all-staters Ally Shaw and Jaiden Thornock in that timespan proved to be too much to overcome.
Shaw and Thornock have now scored 14 of Bonneville’s (4-1, 1-0) 17 goals this season.
“We just had a lousy 20 minutes,” Geddes said. “Once we settled in, the game looked really nice, but that first 20 was absolutely ugly ... and you can’t do that against a team like Bonneville.”
The Bobcats (4-3, 0-1) trimmed the deficit to 3-1 in the 22nd when Robin Hansen scored on a pass from Megan Payne. Unfortunately for Sky View, it had a handful of near misses that would have changed the tide of the match.
For example, Stacy Bair and Shaylee Saxton both took shots that found the woodwork, while Haley Voeller narrowly misfired on a shot from about six yards away.
“We got one (goal) back,” Geddes said. “We could have gotten eight or nine back, but they have a solid keeper. It could have been a 5-3 or 6-3 game for us after our wake-up call.”
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