Undefeated Lady Templar beat Gunnison and Grand
Bob Bahlmann
Staff writer
9-22-2016
MANTI—The Lady Templar soccer team remains unblemished in region competition as victories over Gunnison and Grand last week improved Manti’s record to 4-0.
The Templars defeated Gunnison on Tuesday Sept. 13, shutting out the Bulldogs, 7-0, and then beat Grand on Thursday Sept. 15 by a score of 7-1.
The game against Gunnison was delayed by lightning, but the wait allowed most of the rain to fall before the contest began.
Manti jumped ahead early to lead 5-0 at the half and then added two more goals in the final 40 minutes of play.
Jentry Young got the shut-out for Manti. Young currently leads the 2A ranks in allowing the fewest goals scored, with an average of 1.7 per game, more than two goals fewer than her nearest competitor, Mileena McElvaney of Emery.
Avalin Cook and Jamie Bawden had two goals each while Karli Arnoldson, Lexie Alder and Megan Olsen also scored for the Lady Templars.
In the game against Grand, Manti pressured the Red Devils the entire game, but didn’t find the back of the goal until midway through the first. Sarah Cluff found Bawden open in a defensive seam, made the pass, and it was off to the races. Bawden was one-on-one with the keeper and scored for the Templars.
Less than 2 minutes later, Morganne Stevens threaded the needle with another pass to Bawden for a goal.
Grand scored on a madhouse corner kick to make it 2-1 for the Templars at the half.
Megan Olsen opened the second half by scoring with a long bouncing shot that found the goal. A minute and a half later, Shaylee Tippets made a nice crossing pass to Alder for a score. Bawden added two more goals in the second half, and Larsen capped off the win with the final goal to make it 7-1.
This week the Templars will look to continue in their quest for a region championship when they travel to North Sevier on Thursday. The Wolves are 0-3 in region play and 1-7 overall. Their only win was a 3-2 victory over Carbon, but the Dinos defeated the Wolves in a later matchup, 5-0.
