The Grand County Lady Red Devils girls soccer team split a pair of home matches this week as they defeated South Sevier 4-0 on Tuesday, Sept. 26, but fell 3-2 to Emery on Thursday, Sept. 28.
On Tuesday, junior Josie Camps and freshman Emree Olsen each scored a pair of goals as Grand broke open the match with three second-half goals after leading 1-0 at intermission to beat the Lady Rams 4-0 for the second time this season. The Lady Red Devils also defeated South Sevier 4-0 on Sept. 7 in Monroe
On Thursday, Camps, normally a midfielder, played goalkeeper in place of junior Veda Gritts and the Lady Spartans jumped out to a 3-0 lead, scoring their first goal less than 10 minutes into the match before Olsen scored in the 52nd minute to cut the deficit to 3-1. Four minutes later, junior Aspen Darcey found the back of the net to pull Grand within a goal at 3-2.
Grand and Emery continued to exchange control of the ball in the late-going and the Lady Red Devils had the upper hand for much of the second half, creating several more chances to score. With nine minutes remaining, freshman Corah Moody just missed on a shot that would have tied the match, and a few minutes later, sophomore Ali Hirt’s offering also sailed wide, and Emery was able to hang on to beat Grand 3-2.
Grand girls soccer coach Christopher Beitner said the Lady Red Devils played a strong game in the loss, but were unable to score.
“They were connecting passes, pressuring the ball – they just had trouble putting the ball in the back of the net,” he said.
It was the second time this season that Emery got off to a fast start on Grand – on Sept. 12, the Lady Spartans scored three first half goals at home on their way to a 4-1 victory.
“(The Lady Red Devils) played really well,” coach Christopher Beitner said of Thursday’s match versus the Lady Spartans. “We had two great goals.”
Beitner said Emery is a strong team that does a lot of things well. The Lady Spartans have a roster about twice the size of Grand’s roster.
“We struggle with numbers, but the ones we do have play really well,” Beitner said. “I couldn’t really ask for more – they gave 100 percent.”
With one regular season match remaining, a road match at Manti that was scheduled to take place Tuesday, Oct. 3, the Lady Red Devils are 3-6-1 overall, 2-6-1 in Region 15. Grand is locked into fifth in the region standings, regardless of the outcome of the regular season finale. The Lady Red Devils will play at Region 14 second-seed Juab to open the 3A state tournament with the match scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 11, at 4 p.m. in Nephi.
Lady Red Devils now 3-6-1
“They were connecting passess, pressuring the ball – they just had trouble putting the ball in the back of the net.”
When: Wednesday, Oct. 11, 4 p.m.
Where: Juab High School, 802 N. 650 East, Nephi
