Eagles win four games over homestand

This archived article was written by: Megan Fietkau

The bodies and minds of the Eagles are weary as their competitive conference play is still underway. With a record of 10-2-2, the hopes are raised high for the women’s soccer team, as they stand second place in the Scenic West Athletic Conference.
Five-home games were hosted on Eagle turf in the past two weeks; all full of intensity and a hunger to win.
Starting the weekend of October 7-8, the women played Colorado Northwestern Community College with a total goal count of 22. The first game Friday was 11-0 following a score of 11-1 Saturday.
“It is to hard for anyone to beat a team by that much, to dominate the entire game,” says captain McKenna Brown. “Our team definitely came together to show sportsmanship.”
Unfortunately for the Spartans, at a surprisingly late notice, the CNCC coaching staff was hired in June to recruit and find a team by Aug. 8. It is noted that nine of the 13 women making up the CNCC team have never played in a competitive soccer league before this year.
According to Brown, the Eagles showed “respect” to the Spartans for their “good spirit and effort.”
Following the weekend’s concluding game, a number of CNCC’s players thanked many of the women on the team for their good sportsmanship and kindness on and off the field. They mentioned that playing the Eagles has been the “most fun they have had” throughout the season so far.
Some mixed emotions were present, but overall the reactions of the Spartans “show that they really appreciate [us],” said Brown.
The following Oct. 11, the Eagles took on Salt Lake Community College. Playing hard, but with an unfortunate turn of events, the Bruins scored a goal in the beginning minutes of the first half.
The Eagles lost to SLCC 1-0 by a defensive mistake and overall miscommunication from the team.
With a day two recover and train, the Eagles had another tough opponent Oct.13-14 playing College of Southern Nevada, who hold a 3-6-1 record.
Coming out strong and confident, the Eagles broke down the CNCC defense and came out with scores of 2-1 in overtime Thursday and a domination of 4-2 on Friday. The conclusion of the games resulted in a total of seven-yellow cards for the Coyotes and none for the Eagles.
The two goals on Thursday were scored by freshman Ryan Virgil on a penalty kick and the winning goal in overtime by Alexi Barbosa. Brown, Virgil, Kori Jorgenson and Rachel Neff scored the four goals on Friday.
As SLCC and Snow College tied their conference game this weekend, the Eagles are now second place in conference standings. The Eagles must beat Snow College on Thursday, Oct. 20, to get the conference champion title and the opportunity to host the regional tournament and stand as the first-place seat.
“Ultimately, we are fighting for victory,” Brown said.
The women are positive and committed as they are preparing for the game against Snow. “Let’s have a great [week] of training and go get this done,” says Head Coach Ammon Bennett.
Co-captain Ashley Christensen believes that the Eagles will “[definitely] take region if each and every girl on the team wants it bad enough and shows it on the field.”
The Eagles will be on the road to take on Snow College in Ephraim on Thursday, Oct. 20 at 1 p.m., followed by a game Saturday, Oct. 22, in Colorado against CNCC at noon.