San Juan girls soccer wins most games in team history, aims for upset in first round
by Rhett Sifford
Sports Editor
The San Juan High School girls soccer team won two of their final four regular season games, running their record to 6-10 overall and 3-7 in Region 18 play.
The Lady Broncos have five varsity wins this season and one against a junior varsity team. The five varsity wins alone is the most season wins in the program’s history.
On October 3 the team traveled to Monroe to take on the South Sevier Lady Rams, where they suffered a 1-0 loss. Colee Crofts, who has been sharp all season for San Juan, had 17 saves. The Lady Broncos had 14 shots on goal in the loss.
This past Tuesday, October 8 San Juan was on the road again for a rare soccer doubleheader in Millard. Due to some scheduling anomalies early in the season they were forced to play back-to-back games against the #9 Lady Eagles.
The Lady Broncos got a huge shootout win in game one, which was tied 1-1 at the end of regulation. Both teams scored in the second half with freshman Ari Adams netting the San Juan goal. They outscored Millard 4-3 in the shootout to take the win.
The Lady Eagles scored four goals in game two to overwhelm the Lady Broncos 4-1. Sophomore Oaysis Nielson was the goal-scorer for San Juan in the loss.
On Wednesday, October 9 the girls closed out their regular season with another road trip, this time to Parowan. The game was tied 1-1 at halftime, but San Juan scored two goals in the second half to capture a nice 3-2 win.
Freshman Jaynie McNaughtan scored two goals for the Lady Broncos and sophomore Brooklyn Pincock tallied the other. Colee Crofts made 12 saves in the win.
San Juan ended the regular season ranked tenth in the final 2A RPI standings. They begin the state tournament in Beaver against the #7 Lady Beavers on Wednesday, October 16.
The game is scheduled to start at 4 p.m. and if the girls can muster an upset, they’ll likely travel to face #2 Waterford in the state quarterfinals on Saturday, October 19.
Heading into the tournament San Juan Head Coach Courtney Hurst says she is impressed with her players this season and admires them.
“They have shown up year after year without having many, if any, wins,” she explains. “They showed up in all the ways us coaches have asked them to and it has paid off this year.
“We mixed some things up this season in hopes that the program would see success, and that has paid off as well.
“I think most of the teams in our region underestimated us. They expected to play the San Juan team of years past. But not this year. We are a better, more refined team and we really do have the ability to win any game.”