The regular season has come to an end for high school girls soccer. Now comes the all-important state tournament where teams get a fresh start and a chance to battle for a championship. 

RPI rankings determine seeding for the playoffs, which began Thursday on the home fields of higher-seeded teams. In Class 6A and Class 5A, the top eight teams get first-round byes. 

Farmington

The Phoenix led Region 1 much of the way, as Farmington posted a 9-3 record in league play. Last week, Farmington won a pair of contests to clinch the region title. Entering the playoffs, the Phoenix hold an 11-5 overall mark. 

Farmington secured a No. 5 seed in 5A’s RPI rankings. The team secured this ranking by first defeating Davis 1-0 on Sept. 27. Issy Hoskins got her third shutout in the goal, as she and her defensive teammates played strong defense against the Darts. Whitney Avei assisted on a first-half goal by Cara Christopherson. It was her third goal of the season and first since Aug. 9.

On Sept. 29, the Phoenix wrapped up the regular season with a 3-2 win at Syracuse. Farmington got two goals from Swayzee Arnell and one from Tatem Grant. Arnell, Grace Quinton and Olivia Hoover recorded assists. 

Farmington gets a first-round playoff bye. The team awaits the winner of Bingham and Westlake on Oct. 11. 

Davis 

The Darts were just behind Farmington in the Region 1 standings, tied for second place with Syracuse and Layton with an 8-4 record. Overall, Davis finished with a 10-5 record in the regular season. 

After falling to Farmington, Davis shut out Layton 1-0 on Sept. 29 to deny the Lancers a chance to tie Farmington for the Region 1 crown. Playing on the road, Davis got the winning goal in the second overtime from Simone Packer. Tessa Franks got the assist, and Elepha Magley recorded shutout No. 6.5 in the net. 

Davis grabbed a No .7 RPI ranking, meaning it also gets a first-round state tournament bye this week. The team will face either Kearns or Copper Hills on Oct. 11 in the second round at home. 

Bountiful

The Redhawks were part of a three-team logjam in Region 5 that came in behind undefeated Bonneville. Bountiful went 5-5 in league play and 10-6 overall. The Redhawks did just enough to get a No. 8 ranking and a bye this week in the 5A state playoffs. 

Bountiful likely would not have gotten the bye had it not been for a strong last week of play. It won both of its games in shutout fashion, first over Woods Cross (4-0) and then over Viewmont (2-0). The team enters the state tournament on a four-game winning streak in which it scored a total of 16 goals. 

Against Woods Cross on Sept. 27, Bountiful scored two goals in each half. Belle Sorensen led the solid effort with a pair of goals and an assist. Sophie Winzeler and Caroline Hellewell added goals. Ellyese Kessler and Ellie Hamlet had assists too. Plus, goalkeeper Daisy Williams had the shutout and an assist. 

 On Sept. 30, the regular season came to an end with two second-half goals against Viewmont at home. Williams recorded her fourth shutout of the season, while Hellewell and Oakley Jensen had goals. Hayley Smith and Kessler assisted on one goal each. 

The Redhawks will begin its playoff mark on Oct. 11 against the winner of region foes Northridge and Box Elder. 

Woods Cross

The 9-7 Wildcats also went 5-5 in Region 5 to tie Bountiful for second place. Woods Cross is seeded 12th in the state tournament and hosted Mountain View on Thursday. 

After the setback against Bountiful on Sept. 27, the Wildcats bounced back to defeat Box Elder 4-0 at home to wrap up the regular season. Oaklee Anderson had two goals and an assist, while Eve Laycock had two assists and a goal. The other goal came from Kirsten Kirkham. Julia Marcheschi also had an assist, and Taylor Halsaz got the shutout. Woods Cross put this game away early by going up 3-0 at halftime. 

Viewmont

Seeded 15th, the Vikings played a home game Thursday in the first round of the 5A playoffs. Viewmont will host Uintah, which finished the regular season with a record of 9-7. Viewmont also went 9-7. The Vikings joined Bountiful and Woods Cross with a 5-5 mark in Region 5. Viewmont dropped both of its games last week, first falling to region champion Bonneville 3-1 at home. Bonneville scored all three of its goals in the first half. Viewmont got on the board in the second half when Katie Wersland assisted on a goal from Annie Layton. 

On Sept. 30, the loss to Bountiful prevented the Vikings from moving up in the league standings and RPI rankings. The team is on a three-game losing skid entering the postseason. λ