Girls soccer region races heating up as season nearing stretch run
Sep 19, 2024 11:54AM ● By Josh McFadden
Bountiful High Redhawks girls soccer tops Bonneville Lakers 7 goals to 1. #9 Belle Sorensen led Bountiful with 4 of their 7 goals. Photo by Carl Page
Don’t look now, but only two weeks remain in the high school girls soccer regular season.
The state tournament begins Oct. 10, so there are precious few games for teams to improve their RPI rankings and playoff seeding.
Bountiful
The 9-3 Redhawks are in a good position. Not only is Bountiful leading Region 5 with a 7-2 record, but they have the No. 4 RPI ranking. This spot would be good enough for Bountiful to secure a first-round bye and second-home game if the playoffs were to start today.
Bountiful is on a four-game winning streak, having most recently crushed Bonneville on the road by the count of 7-1 on Tuesday. The Redhawks were already up 4-0 at halftime and added three more goals in the second half.
Belle Sorensen caused fits with the Bonneville defense.
Sorensen, a junior forward, scored four goals in the win, bringing her season total to 15 and her career total to 47. It was the second time this season that she had four goals in a game. Sorensen duplicated the feat at Northridge on Aug. 27. Sophie Winzeler, Aliva Roberts and Izzy Hill each had goals, with Sorensen, Roberts, Hill and Bella Morgan picking up assists.
Bountiful’s offensive outburst was much different than in the first meeting with Bonneville on Aug. 20. On that day, the Redhawks scored a 2-0 victory.
The Redhawks host Northridge on Thursday and then travel to Roy on Sept. 24.
Viewmont
The Vikings aren’t far behind in the Region 5 standings.
Viewmont is 6-3 in league play (7-5 overall), tied with Northridge and Clearfield for second place behind Bountiful.
The latest contest for Viewmont was a 2-0 loss at home to Northridge. A victory would have put the Vikings in a first-place tie. Viewmont is 10th in the Class 5A RPI rankings.
Through 12 games, Annie Layton leads the Vikings with six goals. Raegan Rast has three goals, while Tally Smith is the leader in assists with three. Susan Lamb has been strong in the net, as the goalie has posted six shutouts.
Viewmont plays at Woods Cross on Thursday. The game precedes a Sept. 14 clash with Bonneville at home.
Woods Cross
The Wildcats have had plenty of ups and downs this season in finding themselves with a 3-9 record (3-6 in Region 5). The Wildcats are seeded 21st in the RPI rankings.
Woods Cross played tough in the first half on the road against a good Clearfield team. Behind strong defense, the Wildcats were deadlocked in a scoreless tie with the Falcons at halftime. Unfortunately for Woods Cross, Clearfield scored three times in the second half to win 3-0 on Sept. 17.
The Wildcats host Viewmont on Thursday. The last time the two teams met, on Aug. 27, Viewmont scored a 2-0 victory.
Through a dozen games, Clara Howes was the top scorer for the Wildcats with five goals. Sydney Oaks has been terrific, scoring three times and recording a team-best seven assists.
Davis
The Darts are no strangers to being at or near the top of region standings. This season is no different.
First-year head coach Dillon Richens has guided the team to a 9-3 start. The Darts are a game out of first place in Region 1 with a 4-1 mark.
Davis won in a shootout on Sept. 12, getting past Layton by making four penalty kicks to two for the Lancers. This followed a scoreless regulation and overtime periods. The Darts got on track offensively on Tuesday with a 3-1 win at Farmington. Simone Packer had a goal, as did teammates Kate Willard and Cadence Packer. Brooklyn Phongsavath had two assists, and Courtney Burbidge added one.
Davis has had numerous contributors this season.
The top scorer is Packer, who has 10 goals. The senior midfielder has 20 goals in her career. Willard has six goals, and Phongsavath has added five to go along with a team-high five assists.
The Darts are fourth in the Class 6A RPI standings. Next up is a home game against Weber on Thursday followed by a contest with Fremont on Davis’ home field.
Farmington
The Phoenix are currently 12th in the RPI rankings. Farmington will need some more wins to avoid a first-round state tournament game.
Farmington is 2-3 in Region 1 and 5-5 overall. In its loss to Davis, Farmington got a second-half goal from Brinlee Ostler. The two rivals hook up in the regular-season finale Oct. 3 at Davis.
Before falling to Davis, Farmington played its best game of the year in a big victory over Fremont.
Playing at home on Sept. 12 against the Silverwolves, the Phoenix won convincingly by a count of 6-0. It was the third shoutout of the season for Farmington and its second-biggest margin of victory following a 7-0 win over American Heritage on Aug. 20.
Against Fremont, Farmington built on a 2-0 halftime lead and added four goals in the second half. Macey Call and Brynlee Austin each had two goals, with Austin tallying two assists as well. Jaida Morris and Kaitlynn Bennett each had goals. Addisyn Webb, Claire Rencher, Grace Quinton and Taytem Grant had assists. Olive Wayland and Abigail Child shared duties in the net. The goalkeepers each got credit for half a shutout in the win.
Farmington’s next two games are on the road. The Phoenix travel to Syracuse on Friday and then play at Weber on Sept. 24.