The Skyridge Falcons advance to the 6A quarterfinals after defeating the Corner Canyon Chargers 3-2.
The Falcons came into the postseason fresh off a rough patch, losing three of their last four games.
However, Skyridge started strong against Corner Canyon and earned a 1-0 lead with a goal from Rachel Boren. The Falcons didn’t score again in the first half, but they dominated possession of the ball and narrowly missed many chances to run up the score.
“That first half was all about the team just doing exactly what we’ve worked so hard to do all season,” said Skyridge head coach Toby Peterson. “Just get that chemistry down, possess the ball, move it around, switch the fields, create some havoc in there, and create opportunities.”
“We’ve been working for the last couple of weeks about getting some shots out from distance, which we hope will create some opportunities inside the 18. We saw that happening and then we just lost a little bit of momentum in there towards the end of the half.”
Corner Canyon was not eager to end its season early and started the second half with better passes and better defense. The Chargers’ Claire Jeppson capitalized on a ricocheted shot off the Skyridge goalkeeper to tie things up 1-1.
The Chargers only had a few minutes to celebrate as the Falcons’ Annika Johns scored with 15 minutes left for a 2-1 lead.
“The energy is awesome, on the field everybody’s focused, on the bench everyone’s engaged, there were so many people that came to support today. It’s just so much energy, it’s awesome,” said Johns.
“In the first half, I had a shot that hit the post, we had a ball off a free kick that hit the crossbar, and we were so close. I think that just amplified the energy, we were all just so ready to score that we just kept trying and kept pushing to get the ball in.”
“All week we worked on taking shots and just being super ready and focused to hit the ball. So, when the cross came it was just automatic. You just take the shot because that’s what we worked on all week.”
In the final two minutes, Skyridge scored again off a goal from Amanda Caswell, which was followed by a goal from Corner Canyon’s Megan Broadbent. But with only a minute left, Corner Canyon didn’t have enough time to score another equalizer.
“I think this team has been resilient all year long. Sometimes they get a little complacent, but as soon as they start feeling like things are going in the wrong direction, they’ve been resilient, and they step back in the game and refocus real fast,” said Peterson.
“We’ve been playing one game at a time, it has been our mantra all season long, just focus on the next game. We’re going to celebrate the moment tonight, and we’re going to come ready to work hard tomorrow.”
With the win, Skyridge advances to the semifinals, where they’ll face the No. 1 seed Davis Darts. Davis stands as the only team in the state with an undefeated record, currently boasting a 16-0 overall record. Last year the Falcons fell in the 6A semifinals to the Davis Darts but hope for a different outcome this year.
“With Davis, we’ve got a big feat ahead of us,” said Peterson. “But before we can focus on others, we’ve got to figure out how to keep our heads on our shoulders longer. We can’t have those moments where we fall apart. We’ve always been an 80-minute team that’s played the whole 80 minutes and tonight I don’t think we were there. We’ve really got to clean that up and get our heads back where they belong.”