HHWS Capitalizes On Bountiful Mistakes

The Highland High Women’s Soccer Team followed their 2-0 win against Ogden on Tuesday with another 2-0 win against Bountiful today.  The Rams now sit atop the Region 5 standings, having grabbed all six points available thus far.

Bountiful was no cake walk for HHWS however, with chances for the Braves coming quickly and often on the counter attack.  In the seventh minute, HHWS nearly went 1-0 down when the Braves’ forward beat the defense and was one-on-one with senior keeper Kennedy McDonald.  Luckily the Brave’s forward put the ball just high enough that it hit the crossbar and kept the score level at zero.  For the rest of the half, Highland dominated possession but was not able to finish their opportunities.

The story was very similar for HHWS at the beginning of the second half, with possession being dominated by the Rams but no goals coming.  The breakthrough finally came in the 53rd minute when senior Lily Olson was taken down hard in the goal box, resulting in a PK.  With Olson hurt from the play, fellow senior Emma Thorton stepped up and buried the penalty, sending the goalie the opposite direction, putting HHWS up 1-0.

For the next 10 minutes, the Braves came out shooting with attack after attack on the HHWS defense.  Luckily, strong performances from both senior Kayla Greer as well as McDonald kept the Braves’ forwards from finishing any opportunities.  With 17 minutes left in the game,  HHWS was awarded a corner kick.  The ball was whipped into the box before being headed out of the box by a Brave defender and right into the lap of senior Emma Nielson.  What happened next was a thing of soccer magnificence.

“I was able to take a touch to settle the ball and then I shot it as hard as I could to the left corner,” Nielson said.

And the ball did just that.  With no chance for any defenders or even the goalkeeper to stop the ball, Nielson buried her shot in the top left corner of the goal, putting the score at 2-0 for the Rams.  This stellar goal seemed to deflate the Braves’ attack, particularly their dangerous counter attack seemed to lose some of its fire.  With less than 17 minutes left in the game, the Highland defense held out and secured the victory.

“This game really gave us confidence going into the season because Bountiful is a really talented team,” Nielson said.

HHWS looks to continue their hot streak next Tuesday, 3:30 @ Woods Cross.