Upping the pressure: High school girls soccer teams aiming high as state tournaments start
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- Lone Peak junior Samantha Sellers (left) battles a Skyridge player for the ball during the Region 3 game in Lehi on Thursday, Sept. 14, 2023.
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- Timpanogos senior Adele Faller (6) and Orem senior Brooklyn Bradley battle for the ball during the Region 8 game at Timpanogos on Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2023.
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- Lehi senior Erin Dahl battles for the ball during the Region 3 game against Pleasant Grove in Lehi on Thursday, Sept. 7, 2023.
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- Orem senior Ava de St. Jour kicks the ball during the Region 8 game at Timpanogos on Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2023.
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- American Fork junior Lucy Kesler runs with the ball during the Region 3 game against Westlake in American Fork on Thursday, Aug. 31, 2023.
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- UVU junior Faith Webber (2) attempts to head the ball during the game against No. 19-ranked Clemson at Clyde Field in Orem on Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023.
The state playoffs are an interesting conundrum for a high school coach.
On the one hand, it’s just another game with the same time constraints, the same need for execution and the same opportunity to perform.
On the other, it’s win or go home, it’s a chance to compete against the best and what the team has been working toward all season.
Lone Peak head girls soccer coach Shantel Jolley said finding the right way to approach it is something she’s tried to discern over the years but is still figuring it out.
“If things don’t go our way, I wonder if I downplayed it too much or not enough,” Jolley said Wednesday. “There’s always so much pressure and for us it’s a hard balance. We’re always going to have the pressure of our own expectations.
“We’re always a higher seed so there is that too, but we really just try to focus ultimately on it being just one game. But we can’t treat it like any other game because it is different.”
Jolley also has the experience of having played in state tournaments, so she understands what her athletes are going through.
“I let my players know that I’ve seen the heartbreak,” Jolley said. “I played in three championship losses. I try to show these girls that I understand exactly how they feel. I understand their nerves, their excitement, the pressure, everything that comes with it. But these games are the reason you play.”
Timpview head coach Nate Warner has seen players compete in state tournaments in a variety of sports during his career and he also said finding the balance of how to treat the games is a challenge.
“I do feel like they are different games and the pressure is elevated,” Warner said. “We just try to teach that you’ve earned the right to go the state tournament and playing in a high-pressure game is a privilege. It’s a great opportunity.”
Warner has also seen it from a couple of different perspectives, both as a coach and as a parent. He’s seen his daughters celebrate winning soccer titles and suffer through tough defeats in the playoffs.
“I think as a as a parent or a coach you have some different emotions,” Warner said. “Sometimes you’re a little nervous for them. I did it as a parent for years and years and years. You are a little nervous sometimes but I think more than anything, you’re excited. You’re happy for them. As a coach or a parent, you want to see them just perform well.”
The reality of soccer, however, is that it can be fickle. Fortunes can change with one bad bounce.
“Soccer is really hard to predict because sometimes it’s one goal and a broken-down play or a rebound and a weird deflection change everything. Soccer is a little bit funny that way.”
Jolley and the Knights know how frustrating that can be. They have come in after playing great during the regular season but gotten eliminated because of those types of moments.
That means that they know they have to be locked in and focused this year.
“I think with our seniors and especially our juniors, they are feeling that they don’t have many opportunities left,” Jolley said. “They are realizing they need to figure out how to succeed in the playoffs and not just be a regular season team.”
Both Jolley and Warner have high hopes for their teams in their respective classifications.
“We always ultimately have the same goal in the end, obviously to win state,” Jolley said. “Obviously last year, we felt like we got down sooner than we should have. But every year is a different team. I think we have some really talented girls this year and I think we’ve got kind of an extra edge and extra kind of chip on our shoulder to finish better this year.”
Warner thinks Class 5A has a lot of teams that could get hot and make a run. He just hopes his squad takes the lessons they’ve learned and applies them.
“Most teams go through some highs and lows.” Warner said “We’ve had that so I think that’s good. I think teams get better prepared for state when they have some adversity to work through. I think our girls are ready.”
The first round of the Class 4A, 5A and 6A playoffs will take place at home sites on Thursday. For complete details, go to UHSAA.org.
