High school girls soccer: Ogden rebounds to take state again in the 3A ranks

Ogden’s girls soccer team hoisted another trophy— it’s sixth in school history — with a 5-1 win over Manti Saturday afternoon at America First Field.

This victory was as sweet as any after the Tigers fell in the state championship game a season ago.  

The top-ranked Tigers offense was dominant the entire game, even more so than the final score showed because No. 3 Manti’s keeper Averie Jo (AJ) Robbins batted down and snagged a number of saves.

“I think it was just our chemistry on the field and just our hunger,” said Ogden forward Elle Weston when asked about this year’s success.

“We knew we wanted it, and wanted to come back even stronger than last year because we lost, sadly. Our team chemistry and team environment was just so good this year.”

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Chemistry was on display for the Tigers’ front line, with Weston leading the way with a brace and an assist. The assist to Megan Beus in the fourth minute lit the scoreboard up first to give Ogden the early and never-yielded lead.

Weston then doubled up the margin with just under 25 minutes left to play in the half, this time off her own foot.   

The Tigers looked to be rolling early behind the two scores, but Manti was able to cut the deficit in half off a nice boot from Chloe Olson.

The Templars continued to press and saw some more chances before watching Weston race through the coverage and draw a penalty in the box with 7:22 left in the opening half.

She drilled her PK to give Ogden a 3-1 lead while taking some air out of the sails for Manti and showing just how difficult it is to defend the Tigers.

Weston said it was fun to score the brace and have an assist but admitted her favorite moment in the game was seeing Beus score.

It was an echoed theme of teamwork across the Ogden bench.

“Lots of teamwork, lots of grit and lots of passion,” said Ogden coach Alexis King, who won her first championship as a head coach Saturday.

“I think the focus (all season for our team) is our mindset,” explained King. “We know we can play at a high level so continuing to push ourselves to play at a high level every day, whether it’s practice or a game, doesn’t matter what it is.”

Ogden finished the season 16-2 and wasn’t tested much during the championship run due to its athleticism across its starters and bench.

In the second half, Robbins did all she could to shut down the Ogden offense. She made a great save off a rocket kick by Gwenyth Aardema, but the ricochet from the save bounced right back for Aardema to net it. 

The final goal came off a deep boot from Capri Colvin beautifully positioned in the far back corner of the net out of the reach of most keepers. That final kick moved it to 5-1 which would hold.

With all the focus on Ogden’s offense, its defensive effort and keeper play from Whitney Fife might have gotten lost a bit, but it was equally impressive against the Templars.

“Our defense has always been connected, and we communicate well with each other, and everybody knows their role,” senior defender Lily Gallegos said.

“If somebody makes a mistake, there is always somebody there to clean things up or pick us back up. It’s just been an amazing season.”

For Manti, it was a special season as well to make the run the Templars did, including upsetting foe Carbon to advance into the championship.

“This season was great. I was really proud of those girls,” said Manti coach Nate Bridges about his team.

“We’re going to come back, put some hard work in and try to give them (Ogden) a better game next season.”