First title game trip: American Heritage girls soccer holds off St. Joseph in 2A semifinals
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- American Heritage players celebrate with senior Riley Jansen (center) after the 2A semifinal game against St. Joseph at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman on Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024.
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- American Heritage players celebrate after the 2A semifinal game against St. Joseph at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman on Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024.
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- American Heritage players celebrate after the 2A semifinal game against St. Joseph at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman on Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024.
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- American Heritage senior Riley Jansen kicks the ball during the 2A semifinal game against St. Joseph at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman on Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024.
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- American Heritage freshman Ada Werner takes a corner kick during the 2A semifinal game against St. Joseph at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman on Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024.
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- American Heritage sophomore Sadie Stratton brings the ball up the field during the 2A semifinal game against St. Joseph at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman on Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024.
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- American Heritage freshman Aurie Pack brings the ball up the field during the 2A semifinal game against St. Joseph at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman on Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024.
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- American Heritage sophomore Sadie Stratton brings the ball up the field during the 2A semifinal game against St. Joseph at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman on Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024.
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- American Heritage sophomore Kayley Hall (21) passes the ball during the 2A semifinal game against St. Joseph at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman on Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024.
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- American Heritage freshman Mikelle Arnson tries to block a kick during the 2A semifinal game against St. Joseph at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman on Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024.
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- American Heritage freshman Izzy Steele heads the ball during the 2A semifinal game against St. Joseph at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman on Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024.
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- American Heritage sophomore Sadie Stratton brings the ball up the field during the 2A semifinal game against St. Joseph at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman on Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024.
Not many of the American Heritage girls soccer players had been to the 2A state semifinals, but senior Riley Jansen had.
She was on the 2021 team that got to the semis before losing to Rowland Hall, 6-2, and there had been some challenging times in the years that followed.
“It’s been rough,” Jansen said. “I started my freshman year but we’ve just progressed and progressed throughout the seasons. Our coaches are great. They have helped us so much, and we have just grown so much throughout the year. I love these girls, I love the team, and it’s awesome.”
None of the Patriots had ever been to the finals because American Heritage had never been able to break through.
But that all changed on Thursday as the to-seeded Patriots tallied two quick goals, then held off a St. Joseph rally in the 2024 2A semifinals to get the 2-1 win and make it to their first championship.
“It’s never happened in our soccer program, so it’s definitely exciting,” Jansen said. “I’m a little nervous, but there is lots of excitement for that. It’s awesome.”
American Heritage head coach Eleonor Stafford said it means so much to her to see her girls be able to have this success.
“It’s amazing,” Stafford said. “It’s been a work in progress. I started out two years ago as an assistant, and this is my second year as a head coach. We’ve been building the program. Our main goal as a team was to get to the finals and work through it. It makes me emotional, because I love seeing the girls actually realize that that they have such amazing potential.”
But it wasn’t exactly easy against the No. 5-seeded Jayhawks.
“It was intense but it’s what we’ve worked for all season,” Jansen said. “It showed. We came out as a team, we put goals in the net, and it was great.”
Neither team was able to get many opportunities for much of the first 60 minutes of the game, although Patriot sophomore Sadie Stratton did have a hard shot that had to be pushed off the post by the St. Joseph keeper.
“The girls played great,” Stafford said. “They kept their composure and passed the ball, building from the defense up. I was really proud of them for doing that. Even though it was an intense game, they still fought through.”
But it wasn’t until the 61st minute when American Heritage finally found the opening it needed.
Patriot freshman Ada Werner got the ball near the top of the box, weaved through traffic, reversed directions and let fly a shot to the far post that nestled into the back of the net.
Less than two minutes later, American Heritage doubled its advantage as freshman Aurie Pack got the ball to the end line and cut it back to where Stratton was waiting to hammer it home.
“They started out being a little bit nervous,” Stafford said. “After we had our halftime talk about locking in and taking deep breaths while we’re playing, they started finding those easy go passes so that we could finish our crosses.”
The Jayhawks didn’t give up, however, and a brilliant blast from distance by junior Jaci Coles in the 78th minute gave St. Joseph a sliver of hope.
“We just settled down,” Jansen said. “We knew that if we just possessed it and passed around, we’d be fine. So that’s what we did. We just moved up the field quick, passing and we have a good defense. I think we just calmed our nerves a little bit and settled it down, and so we got the win.”
The Patriots refused to give the Jayhawks any other looks as the time wound down and ended up with the historic victory.
“We have a really young team, mostly freshmen,” Stafford said. “We have a couple seniors playing, but we focused on chemistry this year. I feel like the girls just having great chemistry just really made a huge difference.”
American Heritage (16-3) will square off against No. 2-seed Waterford in the 2A title game on Saturday.
“The key will be doing what we’ve practiced,” Jansen said. “We’re just a team that does quick passes, we get it down to the line and we cross it. I think just focusing on those key things is what’s important for us.”
The championship is scheduled to take place at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman with kickoff at 2 p.m.
