A year ago, Green Canyon fell short in the 4A semifinals and missed a chance at its first championship appearance.
This year was a different story.
Green Canyon dominated this season with a 19-1 overall record and only allowed 10 goals in its 20 games. The last time the Wolves allowed a goal was a game on Sept. 12 against Mountain Crest.
On Friday, Green Canyon capped off its season with its eighth shutout in a row in a 2-0 victory over Park City for its first-ever 4A state championship.
“This means a lot,” said Green Canyon head coach Kirt Sadler. “It’s great for this program, great for these girls. They’ve worked hard for four years to get here. I’m just glad that I got asked to be the coach of this team. I got lucky and got this great group of girls with a lot of talent.”
It was a defensive-sided game from the start, with neither team able to get a goal before the half.
Green Canyon took the lead in the 54th minute when Chloe Sadler scored on a penalty kick. Sadler was instrumental for the Wolves this year, notching eight goals and leading the team in assists with nine on the season.
“We’re just all so connected, and I feel like today we were all so ready to play,” Chloe Sadler said. “We played as a team. That’s how we won.
“This team has never gotten here and has never got to the final. I feel like this year we were super ready. We just were so hungry to be here, and I feel like we played our best and so we got the win.”
The Wolves held the 1-0 lead through most of the second half, but punctuated the win with a late goal in the 76th minute from Austin Miller.
As it did often this season, the Green Canyon defense stifled Park City and notched its 13th shutout.
“This is the same backline I had last year pretty much. Went through a lot of struggles,” Kirt Sadler said. “This year they are something else. I mean, you look at the last eight games, all these teams we’re playing, they’re not even giving up even a chance.
“(Goalkeeper) Ivy (Wengreen) has stepped when she has, but often she hasn’t even had to step up. They are just locking things down and taking care of business and that’s who they are.
“They took this season so seriously that every single fit ball that gets played over, not one breakaway this season on us, the whole season, about 20 games. So, they’re just phenomenal.”
It’s the first girls soccer championship for Green Canyon since its doors opened in 2017. Coach Sadler says it is a meaningful championship for the program.
“I’ve got just excellent players on this team,” he said. “Every practice, every game, it was different this year. We go train and they give me everything. Even when I want to have a fun day, they didn’t want that. They want to push us to go all the way.
“So mainly it was coming from them and their passion for what the boys got to do last year. They saw this (stadium), they saw the excitement. From that day on they were all in. The second I got the team picked it was like ‘Give me as much as you can.’”