MIDVALE — The Jordan Beetdiggers entered the 2007 soccer season as unknowns. They were supposed to be a young team building for the future. With six sophomores in the starting lineup, and only five seniors on the roster, nobody expected the type of results Jordan is posting.
The Beetdiggers kept their record unblemished as they defeated Hillcrest 2-1 to open Region 2 play Tuesday afternoon and moved to 5-0 on the season.
"We are very young, but these girls are very good," said 'Diggers coach Jesus Goyzueta. "They are still learning to play the way we want, but I am pleased with how they have responded so far."
With such an inexperienced squad, it helps to have someone like senior-goalkeeper Kirsten Anderson in the back directing things. Three different times in the first 12 minutes the Huskies had excellent scoring opportunities only to come away empty. Twice forward Talya Crosby got behind the Jordan defense for a one-on-one chance, both times Anderson was up to the challenge.
"It is a lot fun playing with all the girls," said Anderson. "I like being a leader on a young team. I try not to yell or boss anyone around. I just tell them where they need to be and what needs to be done."
While Hillcrest controlled more of the play in the opening 40 minutes, it had nothing to show for as both teams were scoreless. The second half saw Jordan make some adjustments and began creating as many scoring chances. The Huskies were marking super sophomore Libby Lundquist with a single player and it was slowing down the Jordan attack.
"We saw they were marking Libby all over the field, so we made an adjustment to drop her back a little more and build the attack more before getting her the ball," said Goyzueta.
The change opened up some nice runs down the wings and more shots on goal. Lundquist capitalized on the new pressure in the 48th minute with a terrific shot from just outside the penalty area to the top-right corner of the net.
To its credit, Hillcrest kept up its pressure and equalized in the 62nd minute. Tara McPartland fought through a Jordan defender on a through ball and had a nice finish past Anderson. But Jordan answered in the 68th minute when another run down the wing paid off with freshman Lexie Morgan scoring from the right side for the final margin.
The win had extra emphasis because with No. 1 Alta and second-ranked Brighton in the region and expected to take two of three playoff spots, Hillcrest and Jordan may be the two teams fighting for that one spot. Anderson, however, doesn't feel that is necessarily the case.
"We don't only want to make the playoffs, but we think we should go in as the No. 1 or No. 2 seed," she said. "We have some high goals, but if we play together, I think we can do it.
E-mail: mblack@desnews.com