When news broke to the Lone Peak Knights girls soccer team that senior forward Camryn Jorgensen would miss the remainder of the season with a Lisfranc injury, they were emotional, not only because Jorgensen had played her final high school soccer game, but also because they knew that losing Jorgensen would be significant on a team with state title aspirations.
“Without question the girls realize that Cam was probably the best player we have because she does a little bit of everything,” Lone Peak head coach Shantel Jolley said. “She’s literally one of those players that’s all over the field doing absolutely everything…losing her leaves a big hole on our team.”
In their Thursday afternoon matchup with Skyridge, the Knights each Jorgensen’s No. 11 written on their right legs, a symbol of not only their support of Jorgensen, but a reminder that each player had a responsibility to fill the void left by the forward’s unwelcomed departure.
“We’re hoping they can each play a little bit like Cam does,” Jolley said when asked about having Jorgensen’s number written on her player’s legs. “We wanted to play for her. It’s been an emotional week for (the team), so having that reminder that Cam is done helped them play for her and play like her at the same time.”
The message appeared to work to perfection, as Lone Peak handled a challenging Skyridge side with relative ease, cruising to a 4-0 victory that gave the Knights the lone claim to first place in Region 4 and a 10-0 overall record to go along with it.
Lone Peak scored three of the four goals in the final 23 minutes of the first half. Freshmen Kate Denney and Bella Devey each notched a goal, and senior center back Tatum Frazier scored her first goal of the year on a free kick from midfield that took an awkward bounce in the penalty area and sailed over the keeper’s head into the back of the net.
Senior Sophie Merrifield scored the final goal of the day for the Knights with under two minutes remaining in the game to put the finishing touches on her team’s 4-goal victory.
With the shutout victory, the Knights have now outscored their last four opponents by a combined total of 19-1 and now have four players who have six or more goals on the season (Jorgensen had five before her injury).
After the victory, Jolley said her players showcased that even without Jorgensen, they still have a bevy of talent that all plays together exceptionally well.
“We’re very talented this year and we’ve got some girls who can take on the game on their own if they wanted, but we continue to play together,” Jolley said. “They don’t just rely on their talent but the effort they put in, and I think that’s key for not just this game, but really all the games we’ve won.”
The talent was apparent throughout the match as the Knights made life difficult for the Falcons who, despite their efforts to energetically press, couldn’t seem to faze the Lone Peak side that controlled the ball and gave up very few goal-scoring chances.
The win bumped Lone Peak to 5-0 in region play, while Skyridge fell to second place at 4-2 but remains within striking distance as teams within the region will start playing each other a second time in the next few weeks.
Jolley said her players know that even though they’re undefeated up to this point, things are only going to get more difficult as the season progresses.
“Any win in our region is always great to get,” Jolley said. “Our region has always been tough, so to be able to go undefeated through the first round of region play is great, but we know very well that playing a team a second time can be a completely different game, so it has been a good first round, but it’s going to be a hard second round for us.”