They've had a fantastic season. Did I think that we were a little bit better on the day? Definitely, and I think the result was fair. – Sven Rasmussen
The clock struck midnight, the carriage resumed its pumpkin form and the Ridgeline girls soccer team's Cinderella story came to an end Friday at the hands of top-ranked Logan. The Grizzlies advanced to the 3A state championship by defeating the Riverhawks 2-0.
Ridgeline held the defending state champions scoreless in the first half. Sophomore Makaylee Tenhoeve kept the Riverhawks in the game through the first 50 minutes with a plethora of saves and captures.
The Grizzlies finally broke through off of a long shot by senior Zhu Parker that sailed over the head of Tenhoeve and into the back of the net ten minutes into the second half.
The Grizzlies’ second goal came with 20 minutes remaining off of a corner kick taken by Zoe Clark. The senior forward found sophomore Kennedy Michel near the far post who punched it in for the score.
In its first year of existence, Ridgeline, a number four seed, advanced to the semifinals by defeating number-one seeded Desert Hills in a shootout after a 0-0 regulation match. The Riverhawks then defeated Tooele 1-0 to make it to the final four.
“I don’t think a lot of people realize how young we are,” said Ridgeline head coach Darin Christensen. “At the end there, we had five freshmen on the field, which is crazy. To make the semifinals as such a young team with five freshmen and we have six or seven sophomores starters, we’ve got maybe one or two juniors and maybe one or two seniors that start a game. Our whole team is super young and they’re super hard on themselves. They felt like they should have won that game.”
Christensen continued to describe his team as one that “grew up” in this state tournament.
Logan head coach Sven Rasmussen expected a strong performance from his young opponent.
“I wasn’t surprised at all how well they played. We played them twice in region, we know them quite well, they’re our neighbors in the valley. They’ve had a fantastic season. Did I think that we were a little bit better on the day? Definitely, and I think the result was fair.
Not knowing who his opponent would be in the state final, Rasmussen didn’t indicate any changes to his team’s gameplan, saying that they would play the quality soccer that they are known for.
Logan will play the winner of Snow Canyon versus Juan Diego for the 3A state championship tomorrow at Rio Tinto Stadium.