KAYSVILLE — Collette Jeppson of Davis has been scoring goals at an astounding pace. She knocked in two during the Darts' 4-0 win over Northridge on Tuesday afternoon, giving her a total of 10 on the season as Davis has streaked to a 5-0 record. But Jeppson is not satisfied.
"I should have a whole bunch more," she said. "I was lazy at the beginning of the season. I wasn't making the runs I needed to or getting myself in the right positions. That, and I missed some pretty easy chances that my teammates set up for me."
Jeppson obviously has very high standards for herself as most players would simply be thrilled at having scored 10 times, but she is not most players.
"She is something special," said Darts coach Souli Phongsavath. "She is a hard worker, and when she does get the ball, she knows what to do with it. We are playing a new formation this year, and she said she really likes it because she is seeing the ball a lot more. We are counting on her to do a lot for us this year."
The Darts' new formation is similar to what Real Salt Lake is using in that there are not truly outside midfielders, more of a diamond in the middle with the outside backs and any of the four in the middle able to split out wide.
"I really like it," said senior midfielder Roxie Tebbs of the different attack. "We all get to be more involved this way."
The Darts controlled the possession, the attack and ultimately the scoring using the formation. It was a bit ironic, however, in the method the team used to get its first two goals. After building good attacks through ball movement in the midfield, it wasn't until the 30th minute when defender Christy Brian sent a long ball over the top and Bailey James was able to run past the defense and in for a one-on-one chance against the keeper. She calmly finished it with a nice left-foot shot to the lower-right corner of the net.
The next goal came four minutes later when goalie Scottie Prince boomed a long drop-kick over the defense and Jeppson used her speed to beat everyone to the ball and slotted it past the goalie.
"It was kind of funny how we got the two first goals," said Phongsavath. "We controlled play, but sometimes things just have to bounce your way."
Davis continued its strong play in the second half, adding two more goals, one by Jeppson on an assist from Kendra Bailey, and one from Collette Simmons on a high, lofted shot from 40 yards out.
"We still have some work to do, but we want to win the region and then see how far we can go in state," said Jeppson. "We are having a lot of fun right now, and if we keep playing hard and getting better, I think we could go deep this season."
E-mail: mblack@desnews.com