Maple Mountain girls soccer loses to Brighton in 5A semifinals
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- Maple Mountain junior Vivian Bird leaps to bring the ball down during the 5A semifinal game against Brighton at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024.
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- Maple Mountain players watch during the final minutes of the 5A semifinal game against Brighton at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024.
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- Maple Mountain freshman Haidyn Denton (61) goes up for a header during the 5A semifinal game against Brighton at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024.
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- Maple Mountain senior Sierra Jacobson brings the ball up the field during the 5A semifinal game against Brighton at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024.
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- Maple Mountain junior keeper Anya Gulley kicks the ball during the 5A semifinal game against Brighton at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024.
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- Maple Mountain junior Arie Bunce heads the ball during the 5A semifinal game against Brighton at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024.
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- A Maple Mountain player takes a free kick during the 5A semifinal game against Brighton at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024.
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- Maple Mountain junior Arie Bunce dribbles the ball across the field during the 5A semifinal game against Brighton at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024.
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- A Maple Mountain player kicks the ball during the 5A semifinal game against Brighton at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024.
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- Maple Mountain senior Anna McMaster kicks the ball during the 5A semifinal game against Brighton at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024.
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- Maple Mountain senior Sierra Jacobson (left) battles for the ball during the 5A semifinal game against Brighton at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024.
After winning the 5A state championship in 2023, the Maple Mountain girls soccer team came out to defend their crown — and had a rough start.
Although the Golden Eagles played good competition, 15 days into the 2024 they had a 1-5 record and had been outscored 14-6.
How Maple Mountain handled the early-season struggles would end up defining its season.
“We lost all of our non-region games before we started,” Golden Eagle head coach Clif Swain said. “Then we just started getting it together. We had a lot of close games but we fought. We started to work together as a team instead of individually and it made a huge difference. Even when we were not scoring, we were limiting goals going in because everybody was playing hard.”
Considering where it started, Maple Mountain’s 13-game winning streak and trip to the 5A semifinals was a tremendous success.
“I’m very proud of them,” Swain said. “We were undefeated in region and we made it to the semifinals. We have a good team, our seniors, juniors, sophomores, freshmen, all of them played together, worked together to get us there. It was very satisfying.”
The Golden Eagles, however, weren’t satisfied with just getting to the semifinals. They wanted a shot at repeating.
But in their way was a talented Brighton squad that wanted its turn in the title game.
The Bengals and Maple Mountain both battled hard and created opportunities, but it was Brighton that finished one and held on for the 1-0 win, ending the season for the Golden Eagles.
“We dug deep and played hard,” Swain said. “We were back and forth. The girls did a really good job to adjust and move. They just didn’t give us good looks and we never could get one. They got their one goal on a corner kick and playoffs come down a lot of times to set pieces. They did a good job on that, but we just couldn’t get it.”
The only goal came on a Bengal corner in the 55th minute that senior Emry Stott took and hooked just inside the near post, getting it through all the bodies and into the net.
The Golden Eagles had their best chance of the game on a corner of their own in the 68th minute, but the header from senior Sierra Jacobson came down on the crossbar and Brighton found a way to clear it.
It was one of a few chances Maple Mountain was able to create, but the Bengal defense made it hard.
“We missed our runners a little bit today,” Swain said. “We missed that pass that normally we make. It was a big game and at time we were over-excited. We finally were starting to get it towards the end but we just couldn’t get it in where we needed to.”
Swain said the Golden Eagles have nine seniors graduating but Maple Mountain has a good group of underclassmen returning.
“We’ll have to have players step up and fill some roles,” Swain said. “We’ve got a lot of young players that played into positions where they were getting more minutes by the end. It was fun to see that.”
Brighton advances to face Olympus in the 5A state championship at America First Field in Sandy on Friday at 11 a.m.
Although that’s where Maple Mountain wanted to be, the Golden Eagles can look back on 2024 with heads held high.
“These guys put it all in the line,” Swain said. “They played with heart and soul. It was a fun season.”
