Winning rivalry: Maeser tops American Heritage 2-0 in what has become a rich rivalry
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- Maeser’s Deborah Chavez scored one of her team’s two goals in a 2-0 win over American Heritage
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- Maeser Coach Dustin Simmons instructs his team at halftime
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- Maeser’s Cami Simmons attempts a shot in her team’s 2-0 win over American Heritage
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- Maeser’s Lilah Leeper
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- Maeser’s Caitlyn Herbert recorded an assist in the Lion’s win over American Heritage
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- Tess Jorgensen’s teammates celebrate her goal scored in Thursday’s 2-0 win over American Heritage
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- Maeser junior Tess Jorgensen is one of the leaders this season for the Lions
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- Maeser’s Tess Jorgensen scored a goal in her team’s 2-0 win over American Heritage
Brandon Gurney, Provo Daily Herald
Maeser's Deborah Chavez scored one of her team's two goals in a 2-0 win over American Heritage
With his 16 years coaching the boys team and another 10 coaching the girls at Maeser Prep Academy, it’s imperative that Dustin Simmons enjoys everything involved with the process of fielding competitive teams from a year-to-year basis.
Fortunately, for him and for the Lions, he enjoys all of it immensely and has subsequently lifted both teams to two of the more competitive programs in the state’s 2A classification, evidenced by last year’s championship run made by the boys team.
On Thursday, Simmons’ girls proved on top of their game, and perhaps on their way in emulating the boys, in topping rival academy American Heritage 2-0 in what is always one of the biggest games of the year.
“We’ve been planning for this game and a lot of the girls, especially the seniors, have had this game circled on their calendars,” Simmons said. “American Heritage is such a good team and we have a great competition going back and forth, so we prepared a lot with what we thought was a good gameplan, and fortunately it worked out for us today.”
Maeser’s connection with American Heritage is strong with the two teams having played some big matches against one another, including last year’s boys state championship game which saw the Lions take home the trophy with a 3-1 victory. The players and even the coaches share a lot of familiarity, too, personified by the fact that American Heritage Head Coach Eleanor Stafford played for Simmons at Maeser a few years back.
Brandon Gurney, Provo Daily Herald
Maeser Coach Dustin Simmons instructs his team at halftime
“We have a lot of respect for their program, and sometimes it hasn’t gone our way against them, but today, it did,” Simmons said. “We stuck to our plan and the girls really came through.”
Ensuring things worked out well for the Lions on Thursday was junior forward Tess Jorgensen, who found the back of the net in game’s 15th minute for an early 1-0 lead.
“Tess is so fast and she never gets tired, and that’s a good combination. She can run forever,” Simmons said. “That was a big goal to get the early lead there.”
Topping off the scoring late in the match was sophomore Deberoh Chavez, who usually plays the role of faciliatator.
“She’s a great passer who has tremendous vision,” Simmons said of Chavez. “She’s able to pick out players and get it to them for scoring opportunities, but today she got the goal. So I was so happy that she got that for us because she doesn’t get a lot of goals, but a lot of assists.”
Brandon Gurney, Provo Daily Herald
Maeser's Cami Simmons attempts a shot in her team's 2-0 win over American Heritage
In between and around the two goals was a good amount of back-and-forth with the Patriots accounting for multiple scoring opportunities that were effectively turned away by goalkeeper Huey Jackson and an effective backline defense.
With the win Maeser improves to 9-5 on the season and 3-3 in the 2A North Region standings. American Heritage falls to 5-6 overall and 2-2 in region play with the loss. It’s a win Simmons hopes vaults his team for the rest of the season as the team enters the playoffs in hopes of working to match the play set forth by the boys team last season.
“We lost a lot of seniors off of last year’s team, so we’re playing a lot of freshmen and sophomores,” Simmons said. “So we’re looking to build and wins like this fuels that fire. So we know what it takes now to beat one of the top teams in the state and hopefully we keep improving.”
For Simmons, he’s more than happy to aide with any developments with Maeser soccer in no small part due to having several kids who play or have played for the academy, along with others soon to do as much.
“I have a son currently on the boys team and another son who recently graduated,” Simmons related. “Then I have a daughter on the team this year and then another son who will be playing for me here soon. So it’s definitely in my best interest to create a great program for my kids to be a part of and I’m so grateful that Maeser has allowed me to do it. It’s such a blessing and I love every part of it.”
Brandon Gurney, Provo Daily Herald
Maeser's Lilah Leeper
Maeser's Caitlyn Herbert recorded an assist in the Lion's win over American Heritage
Tess Jorgensen's teammates celebrate her goal scored in Thursday's 2-0 win over American Heritage
Maeser junior Tess Jorgensen is one of the leaders this season for the Lions
Maeser's Tess Jorgensen scored a goal in her team's 2-0 win over American Heritage
