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Logan • After taking a four-goal lead into halftime Saturday afternoon, the Logan girls' soccer team had to fend off a furious rally from Stansbury in the second half to emerge with a 5-3 victory and advance to the 3A semifinals.
Early goals from Kaycee Larsen and Shannon Jensen followed by a pair from Karly Lopez gave the Grizzlies a 4-0 lead heading into the break, but three second-half goals from the Stallions (including two from Mackenzie Landward) made for a tense finish to the match, before Logan's Nicole Nye ended the comeback attempt.
With the Grizzlies scrambling to regain control in the waning minutes, Nye fired a hopeful shot from well outside the 18-yard box. Her curling strike hit the inside of the right post and deflected in to give Logan a 5-3 lead in the 78th minute, and effectively ended any chance for Stansbury.
"I was like, 'I need to make this, I need to make it up to my team,' " Nye said. "My teammates had put in so much hard work just to get the ball where it was, I just wanted to make it count for them and for the rest of the team. That goal definitely calmed us down after that, and we were able to pull it off in the end."
While Nye and her teammates were relieved after finally finishing off Stansbury, she said that it's a wake-up call that they need to stay engaged during every minute of play in the playoffs.
"I think we learned that we need to stay in the game at all times," Nye said. "We can't have mental lapses during those times because that's when good teams make the most of those opportunities. We have to stay mentally strong and put forth effort throughout the whole game."
Lopez, who finished with two goals and several more dangerous opportunities in the game, was not happy with the way she and her teammates allowed the Stallions to gain momentum in the second half.
"We played well today, but we kind of gave up in the second half," Lopez said. "I think we were all a little mad at each other after that — we should have kept pushing."
While the Grizzlies should be rather upset at themselves for allowing the game to even come down to the final minutes, coach Sven Rasmussen is confident his team will learn from the experience and do their best to not allow that to happen in the semifinal.
"I think our team is mentally strong; no player or team ever has a perfect game," Rasmussen said. "We pulled it together and got the result, though. They've been there before, they know what they need to do, it's just about reminding them to stay in it. My girls are fantastic, they get after it — I don't expect this to happen again." —
Prep soccer schedule
Class 2A
Quarterfinals, Saturday
• Maeser Prep 5, Grand 1
• Waterford 3, Delta 1
• Rowland Hall 5, Millard 0
• Summit Academy 3, Manti 2
Semifinals, Oct. 21
At Jordan High School
• Maeser Prep vs. Waterford, 11 a.m.
• Rowland Hall vs. Summit Academy, 1:15 p.m.
Class 3A
Quarterfinals, Saturday
• Ridgeline 1, Tooele 0
• Logan 5, Stansbury 3
• Snow Canyon 2, Canyon View 1
• Juan Diego 6, Park City 2
Semifinals, Oct. 21
At Jordan High School
• Ridgeline vs. Logan, 3:45 p.m.
• Snow Canyon vs. Juan Diego, 6 p.m.
Class 4A
Semifinals, Tuesday
At Juan Diego High School
• Timpview vs. Skyline, 3:45 p.m.
• East vs. Woods Cross, 6 p.m.
Class 5A
Semifinals, Tuesday
At Juan Diego High School
• American Fork vs. Fremont, 11 a.m.
• Copper Hills vs. Davis, 1:15 p.m.