Infinity players in the Herald Journal representing their respected high schools

Solid 2nd half
By Jason Turner
Published:
Wednesday, September 16, 2009 4:41 AM CDT
It’s amazing the difference 10 minutes can make.

For the first 50 minutes of Tuesday night’s intra-valley showdown, the Sky View girls soccer team had a difficult time creating good scoring opportunities against Logan’s backline.

From the 50th to the 60th minute, though, the Bobcats were on fire in the attack, and that made the difference.

Stacy Bair buried a pair of perfect through balls during that timespan, leading Sky View to a 2-0 victory over Logan at Crimson Field.

“It was just like one of those little squalls,” SV head coach Doyle Geddes said. “That’s what it was, it was like a 10-minute squall where we were just all over them, and that was the difference tonight.”

It was the kind of intensity and ball movement Geddes was hoping to see from his club, especially after watching the Grizzlies (3-7, 1-4 Region 5) get the better of the Bobcats (7-4, 3-2) in the first half.

“It was a product of what we talked about at halftime because we were not happy at all with our possession in the first half,” Geddes said. “They outhustled us, they outpossessed us and they were basically beating us at our own game.”

Logan certainly didn’t look like a team that’s been down on its luck in Region 5 play. The Grizzlies held the Bobcats to zero shots on goal in the first half and had a few dangerous scoring chances themselves.

Sam Emmett darn near gave the hosts a 1-0 lead midway through the half when she drilled a swerving left-footed shot just outside the 18-yard box that appeared to graze the far post.

“Absolutely, this is the best game we’ve played all season when you look at the dynamic play and the hard work coming together,” LHS head coach Mitch Peterson said.

Peterson just wishes he could turn back time and take away the aforementioned 10-minute span. But, unfortunately for the Grizzlies, a poor five-to-10-minute span has made the difference in all four of their region losses this season.

“That’s the pattern we have, that’s the trend we have,” Peterson said. “It’s very close all the way through, zero-zero at halftime, maybe 1-0 at half ... but we’re competitive and then we lose something for eight minutes, six minutes and (the other team) gets a goal or two, and then we come back and fight again, but we can’t make up the difference.”

As dynamic of a finisher as Bair was in the second half, it was her teammates in the midfield who set the tone. Central midfielders Haley Voeller and Krista Whittle elevated their level of play a great deal, and both players were rewarded accordingly.

On Bair’s first goal, in the 55th minute, Whittle slid a through ball to the sophomore, who beat LHS goalkeeper Taylor Anderson on a perfect shot to the far post. Two minutes later, Voeller served a world-class through ball to Bair in tight space, who, once again, used her speed from the right wing to tack on an insurance goal.

“I was thrilled with Haley and Krista in the midfield because that’s where it begins, and they just settled the ball and started knocking it to free space and the whole team just seemed to embrace that,” Geddes said.

As for Bair, she proved why she is one of the region’s best offensive players, scoring her eighth and ninth goals of the season. In Sky View’s previous match, No. 30 had a goal and two assists.

“It feels good just to be there for the team and know that they support me,” Bair said. “It was a lot of fun.”

Sky View almost scored a couple more goals around the time Bair was heating up, as Macken Brady headed a Mia Felts corner kick off the crossbar, and Anderson had to make a nice diving save on super-freshman Jessica Brooksby’s low shot to the right post.

Logan struggled to find good scoring opportunities after halftime. Perhaps the host’s best chance came on a Katie Sorensen through ball to Tonya Anderson (pictured above - yellow #23), which SV keeper Megan Allred aggressively came off her line to break up. Allred was a bit shaken up on the play, but still helped lead the Bobcats to their fifth shutout of the campaign.

Although the Grizzlies were unable to find the back of the net, Peterson was pleased with how they “played for each other,” and, like Geddes, singled out the play of a few of his athletes.

“KD Tilley’s played amazing soccer the last three games,” he said. “She’s just coming alive. Hillary in the back, she was amazing. Hillary just works so hard all game. ... And I think Katie Sorensen and Jordan Houston, first half it was beautiful to watch the two of them work together.”

Mustangs 1, Tigers 1 (2OT)

Mountain Crest (6-1-1, 3-1-1) fired shot after shot at Ogden (4-3-2, 2-2-1) keeper Keri Lammert in the two overtime sessions, but Lammert was up to challenge — “my hat’s off to her,” MC head coach Dennis Giles said — preserving the draw for the hosts.

“I told the kids, ‘If you would have played this way the entire match we would have never went to overtime,’” said Giles, who added his squad struggled to adjust to Ogden’s narrow and short field . “I mean, we just dominated. It was incredible. ... These kids are capable of playing like that. It just seems like we cannot find that intensity that we need to find all of the time.”

Cassidee Nelson gave the Mustangs a 1-0 lead in the 34th when she got behind the Tigers’ backline on a Jessica Hoskin through ball. Hannah Lythgoe scored the equalizer for Ogden nine minutes into the second half.

Mountain Crest had a couple of shots find the woodwork after Lythgoe’s goal, but none were good enough to strengthen the Mustangs’ hold on second place in the league standings.