High school girls soccer: Bountiful’s DI talent gives it an edge in 5A championship win

In Bountiful’s opinion, Friday’s 5A championship was a long time coming.

It’s easy to see where the Redhawks are coming from. The last time Bountiful raised a state title trophy was in 2006, despite back-to-back championship game appearances in 2022 and 2023, and a semifinal finish in 2024.

But it finally ended the 19-year drought with a 2-1 win over Region 6 foe Olympus on Friday.

“It’s all about the girls,” said Bountiful head coach Kris Hamlet. “It would have been horrible for them to get here this many times and not walk away with one. The last four years have been a great ride and so many great girls and they just worked so hard.”

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Friday’s win was far from smooth sailing for Bountiful. As it has multiple times this season against Olympus, it had to play from behind, as Kiera Bradley had a laser of a goal on a free kick nearly 35 yards out in the 15th minute for the Titans.

Olympus then continued to play tough for the remainder of the first half and kept the Redhawks scoreless.

“We knew we had to adjust some things at halftime,” Hamlet said. “We came out with a different formation trying to throw Olympus off and they finished a great free kick and we knew they were going to battle to the end.”

Everything changed for Bountiful once the Divison I duo of Belle Sorensen and Myka Page connection got warmed up. Sorensen is committed to UVU while Page is committed to Washington State.

First came the equalizer from Page. She got a well-placed ball off a header from Sorensen, which allowed her to break away from the Olympus back line in the 64th minute.

“After that, it just changed the whole game,” Page said. “We were just like, go, go, go. After that point, I knew we were going to win. I knew it.”

Only a few minutes later, Page returned the favor, finding Sorensen in the box for the go-ahead goal. Sorensen was awarded 5A player of the year in 2024 as a junior and ended her senior campaign as the 5A leading scorer with 25 goals while pitching in 11 assists.

She’s also been on the varsity team since her freshman year and experienced every heartbreak of the last three years but ended her high school career with the championship-winning goal.

“My gosh, it means so much to get there both my freshman year and sophomore year and to make it to the finals last year,” Sorensen said.

“This year I knew I just wanted to go give it all out on the field and to finally get the ring. I’m so glad the team pulled through.”

Bountiful played physical on the backline and midfield to make sure the one-goal margin was enough to win its first state championship in 19 years.

It wasn’t an easy road for the championship Redhawk squad as it opened the year with four consecutive losses and missed out on a region title thanks to two losses to Olympus.

Bountiful made sure it got the last laugh though.

“We had a little bit of adversity at the beginning of the year losing our first four games,” Hamlet said. “Then we turned it around and we told them at the beginning, ‘It’s not how we start, it’s how we finish,’ and here we are with the trophy.”