ALPINE — For the second time in the 6A playoffs this week, Fremont went into a game as underdogs but came out victorious.
Two days after upsetting Herriman in the second round, the No. 13 seed Fremont beat No. 5 seed Lone Peak on the road on Thursday for the 2-1 win in the 6A quarterfinals.
“We’ve lost quite a few games during the season, but we were building and building and building to the playoffs. I told them after every game whether we won or lost we’re building for a run at the playoffs. I don’t care, we’re getting better every game. By the time the end of the season came around, I don’t feel like we were underdogs to anybody.” — Fremont coach Kelly Parke.
“We’ve lost quite a few games during the season, but we were building and building and building to the playoffs. I told them after every game whether we won or lost we’re building for a run at the playoffs. I don’t care, we’re getting better every game. By the time the end of the season came around, I don’t feel like we were underdogs to anybody,” said Fremont coach Kelly Parke.
Fremont did not look like underdogs on Thursday, scoring both its goals in the first 10 minutes.
The first goal came just four minutes into the game as senior Payten Ivins scored her 23rd goal of the season with a flick of the ball that sailed over Lone Peak goalkeeper Eva Chenn’s head and in for the score.
Two minutes later, sophomore Brooklyn Robinson tracked a cross in front of the Knights’ goal from Ashlyn Gwynn to poke in the Silverwolves’ second goal.
Parke knew his team had extra motivation to beat Lone Peak after getting knocked out of the state tournament by the Knights last year.
“We lost here a year ago today, the exact date. These girls knew it. They did not want to come out and be slow, and we scored on them first,” said Parke.
The Silverwolves’ swift scores proved fortuitous as the team’s offense took a major hit when Ivins was injured and had to come off the field early in the first half. Without its impressive goal-scorer, Fremont had to rely more heavily on its defense.
The Knights quickly tested that defense, cutting the deficit in half. Ellie Norton found the back of the net after a Lone Peak corner kick worked its way to the senior forward’s feet. Fremont’s defense held strong for the rest of the afternoon though.
“They worked their butts off. There were a lot of bodies in the box behind the ball, that’s for sure,” said Parke.
Fremonts’s hard work paid off as it will look to continue its magical playoff run when it faces off against No. 1 seed American Fork on Tuesday afternoon in the 6A semifinals at Rio Tinto Stadium.