High school soccer: Mountain Ridge ends Copper Hills’ seven-game winning streak

The Copper Hills Grizzlies had a great start to their season, winning their first seven games and scoring an average of 5.4 goals per game.

However, the Mountain Ridge Sentinels put a stop to the Grizzlies with a 3-0 victory Tuesday afternoon.

Copper Hills was held scoreless for the first time this season thanks to a defensive masterclass from Mountain Ridge, which didn’t allow a single shot on goal through the first half.

“They played very composed today, very disciplined, and did a really good job,” said Mountain Ridge head coach Mark Osborne. “Copper Hills has players that have got a lot of goals so far in the season. So, it was nice that we were able to shut them down today. Since we’re the region champs, we still have everybody aiming for us.”

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The Sentinels had five different players recording either an assist or a goal in the win. However, the first goal came at the hands of Kya Newton off a chip pass from Kelsie Peterson.

“I got out wide and I was just driving at their back line and Kelsie chipped me in through their back line. We played really well together,” said Newton. “Especially with last year where only a couple of us scored, so this year we’re kind of getting double-teamed and people are stepping up and scoring.”

With under two minutes remaining in the half Hadley Leonard scored off a corner kick from Mya Peck.

Once again the Sentinels defense stifled the Grizzlies, not giving them nearly enough chances to get back into the game.

Mountain Ridge’s Jocelyn Wright put the exclamation mark on the game with a goal from 25 yards out.

“We’ve got loads of talent up top, that’s something that we knew we had coming in, two national champions, a couple State Cup champions last year, 6A leading scorer, but the best part of those players is their willingness to involve everybody and get everybody in the game,” said Osborne.

“Nobody cares who scores, they’re just as happy getting an assist as they are scoring the goal. That’s what makes them even more dangerous in my opinion.”

The win puts Mountain Ridge at the top spot in Region 2, which was previously held by Copper Hills.