Top form: Maple Mountain secures the Region 7 crown with a 6-0 win over Payson
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- Maple Mountain players pose with their Region 7 championship trophy following a 6-0 win over Payson. October 6, 2026
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- Maple Mountain senior Kate Austin leads her teammates off the field following their 6-0 win over Payson on Tuesday. October 6, 2026
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- Maple Mountain sophomore Morgan Robinson gains control of the ball during her team’s 6-0 win over Payson. October 6, 2026
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- Maple Mountain defender Kate Austin works the ball upfield during her team’s win over Payson. October 6, 2026
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- Maple Mountain celebrates Mel Bartholomew’s second half goal during a 6-0 win over Payson. October 6, 2026
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- Maple Mountain’s Sophie Sandberg works around the Payson defense during Tuesday’s win. October 6, 2026
Goals and smiles came often during Maple Mountain’s regular season finale versus Payson on Tuesday with the Golden Eagles taking a resounding 6-0 win.
The result secured a well-earned Region 7 crown for a team that worked its way to a remarkable 11-1 mark in what could easily be considered one of the most competitive and deep regions in the entire state. In fact the only mark against the Golden Eagles came with a 2-1 loss to Springville in which the winning goal was scored by the Red Devils with just over two minutes remaining.
But ask first-year Maple Mountain coach Brynlie Mellor about the result versus Springville, and she expresses not a lot disappointment, somewhat ironically.
“I’m not going to lie, and I was sort of happy we lost that game.” Mellor admitted following the win over Payson. “We needed a bit of an attitude adjustment, and Springville is a tough team, and they got us on that night. But it wasn’t the worst thing.”
It was the only negative outcome Maple Mountain has endured dating back to a 4-3 loss at the hands of 6A’s Davis on August 20. And while stacking so many wins consecutively isn’t a bad thing, taking at least one loss can provide dividends for the larger goal, which is of course winning a state championship.
“We’re trying to work on the difference between being confident and cocky because I really do think our best player on our team is our team,” Mellor explained. “We have a good forward front line, but I would say they’re all pretty evenly matched. We don’t just have one top scorer on our team, so we’re pretty well-rounded. The team itself is the top player, so if our attitude isn’t right as a team, that’s when we fall apart, and that was the biggest thing with Springville.”
Since the loss to the Red Devils, Mellor’s team has taken four straight polish off a remarkable regular season against top foes such as Pleasant Grove, Spanish Fork, and Salem Hills, leading up to Tuesday’s dominating 6-0 win over the Lions.
Leading the charge again was leading-scorer Hinckley Hassan, who netted two goals and was joined by Piper Hoyt, Haidyn Denton and Mia Bartholomew, each of whom had one goal a piece during the scoring barrage.
The game proved an outlier of Region 7 play, where tight outcomes are the rule when just about every team matches up against one another. Standing as a prime example would be Maple Mountain itself, which secured five of its 11 region wins by just a single goal while losing its lone game by the same margin.
All of those tight games should prove a benefit in Mellor’s mind as her team turns now to the state playoffs.
“Each of the teams definitely have different strengths, so it actually works as great practice exercises to go against different aspects,” she said. “Sometimes we were working on switching from flank to flank, and other times it was more, ‘Can we get in behind their defense?’ Against Salem, you can’t just send balls behind because they have a sweeper who is an all-star. So it’s definitely been a challenge, and I’ve been learning a lot and growing a lot as a coach, too. But it’s been fun, ultimately.”
Helping the cause considerably is a roster flush with a lot of talent and some key senior experience.
“We have a lot of the leaders have been coming from just about every position group,” Mellor said. “We’ve got Avery Powell and Maddie Nelson in the back that hold us strong., along with Kate Austin. And then we’ve got our top scorers like Hinckley Hassan, and then Haidyn Denton and Piper Hoyt who just bring us home with goals. It’s all worked together very well and those are just some of the names. It takes everyone out there and we’ve had great contributions from everyone.”
All of it has worked together in providing quite a remarkable first year coaching for Mellor with the team looking well-positioned to make a deep run in the 5A state championships.
“I’ve loved working with this team so much and I’m so blessed to be here,” Mellor said. “The players are talented and work well together, and we have great leadership. We’ve learned a lot throughout the season and now we have the opportunity to take those lessons to the playoffs.”
