Time to shine: Lone Peak’s Kate Fuller leads her team to a 3-0 win over American Fork
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- Lone Peak senior midfielder Kate Fuller
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- Sadie Stratton’s teammates congratulate her following her goal
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- Lone Peak senior Hannah Heimuli
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- Lone Peak defender Olivia Snow
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- Lone Peak senior Kate Fuller is central to her team’s success this season
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- Lone Peak’s Kate Fuller pokes the ball away from American Fork during her team’s 3-0 win on Thursday.
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- Sadie Stratton defends effectively for Lone Peak during its win over American Fork
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- Lone Peak’s Kate Fuller lets loose on a kick during her team’s win over American Fork
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- Lone Peak celebrates as a team following one of its three goals scored in a win over American Fork
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- Hannah Heimuli’s teammates celebrate her goal scored during Lone Peak’s 3-0 win over American Fork
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- Lone Peak’s Hema Heimuli reacts after seeing her shot finds the back of the net
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- Lone Peak’s Olivia Snow tosses the ball into play
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- Lone Peak’s Kate Fuller races past American Fork’s defense
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- Lone Peak freshman Jordan Moeaki scored one of her team’s three goals in a win over American Fork
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- Lone Peak’s Hannah Heimuli works to control the ball during her team’s win over American Fork
The date of June 15 is one Lone Peak midfielder Kate Fuller won’t soon forget.
A standout for the Knights, Fuller received a scholarship offer from BYU women’s soccer Coach Jennifer Rockwood on that day this past summer leading up to her senior season. She committed a couple of days later, excited and feeling blessed for the opportunity to play for the Cougars at the collegiate level.
Earning a scholarship to play for a program like BYU doesn’t come easy, although Fuller’s talent is readily apparent to any observer and was on full display during Lone Peak’s 3-0 win over American Fork this past Thursday. Much as she has for some time, the senior controlled a lot of the possession, forced the action while defending consistently and effectively throughout the game’s 80 minutes.
In short, Fuller does it all for the Knights game-in and game-out.
“She’s spent most of her time her (playing with) a really phenomenal class,” said Lone Peak Coach Stantel Jolley recalling the course of Fuller’s career since her freshman season. “…She probably didn’t get the spotlight that her talent deserved, so it’s now fun to let her have that shining moment as a senior. She’s the target now…and she’s phenomenal.”
Fuller has scored a team-leading 13 goals so far this season, and although she didn’t get one into the back of the net against the Cavemen, she was central to just about every positive offensive attack the Knights mounted.
Turns out the first goal scored came from Fuller’s senior teammate, Hannah Heimuli in the match’s 13th minute.
“It’s so fun playing with Kate,” Heimuli said. “We’ve been playing together for six years now and we’ve built some really good chemistry and playing with Kate makes everything so fun out there, not just for me, but for everyone.”
The Cavemen buckled down and managed to go into the half only down 1-0 before the Knights regrouped and took their play to another level for the game’s final 40 minutes.
Freshman Jordan Moeaki put the Knights up 2-0 during the match’s 44th minute with her first goal of the season before junior forward Sadie Stratton topped off the scoring just six minutes later to put an exclamation point on things.
“Our goal going in was to play a full 80 (minutes) and we made sure to come out hard in the second half. We got it done,” Fuller said.
“We played a solid first half, but we knew we had another level and more ability than what we’d shown,” Jolley added.
With regards to receiving a big contribution from a young freshman like Moeaki, Jolley commended her play while adding a surprising fact regarding her focus.
“Jordan is a stud,” Jolley said. “The craziest thing about her is that she’s mainly a basketball player. She’s going to look to play basketball in college, but she’s a multi-sport athlete that you don’t see often these days.”
“It’s definitely been fun to play with a lot of new girls in a new environment,” Heimuli added. “Jordan is a dog and I love playing with her. Her mindset of giving it her best is great and that’s what we feel like we have from everyone on this team. I love playing with everyone out there so much.”
Lone Peak’s overall play has it with a 10-1-1 overall record this season with the only blemish coming on August 28 with a shootout loss to Layton. It was the first loss the Knights had incurred since August of 2023, with Jolley ascribing the defeat to several key players being injured while hoping it served as a sort of catalyst for the Knights in their quest to capture a third-straight 6A state championship.
“It keeps them humble and it keeps them hungry,” Jolley said of the loss. “You can’t win forever. We had a pretty good winning streak the last couple of years, but…you’re not invincible. I always tell them that a loss is only a loss if you don’t learn from it and, for us, it was just a learning opportunity.”
Next up for Lone Peak is a game at Corner Canyon while American Fork will look to rebound with a game versus Skyridge.
