Midweek Observations
Region play has been going for a couple weeks in some regions. Other regions are just winding down the non-region portion of their schedule.
I’m eager to see how things shake out in the different regions. The preseason hasn’t been a good measuring stick in many cases, with 10-1 and 13-0 type blowouts against overmatched opponents being the norm.
On Wednesday, I got to see a particularly compelling Region 2 opener pitting Brighton against Jordan. I came away feeling impressed with both offenses.
The Beetdiggers played with relentless energy for 30 minutes and broke Brighton’s five-game shutout streak on Lexi Morgan’s goal in the 20th minute. Even when the Bengals buried them under a flurry of second-half goals, Jordan kept attacking down to the final seconds and scored well into stoppage time.
I thought Brighton responded well to a situation where they couldn’t just shutout an opponent and coast to a win. I had doubts about the Bengals offensive abilities going up against a team like Alta later in the season. But after seeing them put the hammer down on Jordan, I feel like Brighton could give the Hawks a tough 80 minutes.
That wasn’t the only compelling Region 2 game of the day. Hillcrest faced a previously undefeated Taylorsville squad and handed the Warriors their first loss of the season. You have to hand it to both teams. They have made incredible strides from last season.
Hillcrest is young, with only one senior, but has already exceeded last season’s win total and looks like a strong candidate for a top-three region finish. The Huskies have a balanced offense. Six players have scored three goals or more in seven games – led by Mackenzie Mann with six. And Hillcrest has the second best scoring defense in 5A currently behind the goalkeeper tandem of Kiley Jo Johnson and Kayla Robb.
Taylorsville, on the other hand, matched its win total from the previous four seasons within its first five games. The Warriors non-region schedule wasn’t exactly what I’d call difficult, but a win is a win when you’re not used to them. Taylorsville has a nice mix of talented freshmen playing key roles in its rise – including second leading scorer Arica Pfeil.
Other thoughts:
- It’s becoming more and more obvious that Region 10 is going to be an absolute monster. What can you say when Wasatch – a middle of the pack team from the region – shutout Region 8 favorite Juan Diego on the road and pushed an excellent Lehi team to the wire? Waterford was virtual champion of Region 9 in the preseason, while Judge handled a good Morgan team with ease on Tuesday. Look out for Park City as well. They are only 1-3-1, but those three losses were to Alta, Brighton and Lone Peak – traditional soccer powers who all experienced a tough match versus the Miners.
- Is everyone else looking forward to Springville and Orem finally meeting one week from today? No one seems to be able to score on the Tigers (zero goals allowed in seven games) and no one seems to be able to stop the Red Devils from scoring (36 goals during their current four game winning streak). It offers the classic debate: Which will triumph – a high-scoring offense or a stingy defense?