Two goals in the final minutes of the first half of Park City’s girls soccer team’s match against Skyline on Monday dug the Miners too deep of a hole, but Park City held its own against the Eagles otherwise.
Park City fell to 4-4 and 2-2 against region opponents after the 3-0 loss to Skyline, but there were encouraging takeaways as well. The Miners held the Eagles scoreless in the second half, and they created enough opportunities offensively throughout the game. The final scoreline might not have shown it, though.
“Disappointed is the wrong word, but I think we failed to take an opportunity today,” Park City coach Anthony DiCicco said. “I think that that’s a team that is a very good team that we are capable of playing with, and I thought we competed well. I thought our commitment to playing our game and dictating play was a little bit lacking. We had some opportunities that we didn’t take advantage of.”
Senior Shelly Palabrica forced a turnover early in the first half and fed a pass to sophomore Abby Hanton, whose shot was saved. Hanton created a few chances for herself throughout the game but couldn’t find the back of the net. That was a recurring theme for Park City all day long, as the Miners fired plenty of shots on target despite getting shut out. A Park City shot hitting the crossbar and bouncing back into the field of play in the second half about summed up the day for the Miners.
“I thought we created enough chances certainly in the first half to come in having scored a goal, and to come out of that game without any goals after the chances we created, leaves some room for improvement,” DiCicco said. “But it’s a reminder to us that we are dangerous, that we can compete, that we can score goals. It’s on us to take advantage of those moments.”
Skyline (4-4, 2-3 against Region 6 opponents), the defending Class 5A state champion, averages over three goals per game. Despite the scoreline, Park City’s back line held its ground against the Eagles’ potent offense.
“I think that we stayed pretty organized and that it was really helpful that we were communicating with each other,” junior defender Remy Rogers said. “We obviously have things to work on, as always. But I think that today was one of those better days, in the second half especially. But one of those things that we should probably work on is staying connected within each line of play.”
Keeping all the defenders in a line to prevent attacking players from staying onside isn’t easy. But the Miners mostly stayed organized and compact, forcing the Eagles into offside positions several times.
“You have to keep four people in a line,” Rogers said. “It’s not that easy, especially when they want to follow their mark. It’s instinctual where you kind of have to hope for the best that it works out, and that last defender is knowing what they’re doing so that they take that step forward and they push them (offside).”
The second half showed improvement from the first, and a better showing from the defense played a large role in that. Rogers and her teammates on the back line are a significant part of how DiCicco wants Park City to play.
“Remy is a junior captain, has a lot on her shoulders and we’re asking our back line to do more than they’ve been asked to do in the past,” DiCicco said. “We want to play through those options and through our center backs and full backs, as opposed to just smashing the ball forward.”
While Park City might not have gotten the result it had hoped for, the Miners’ effort against Skyline gave them some encouraging takeaways for the rest of their region schedule.
“It is a little bit frustrating,” Rogers said. “There’s games like this, and they’re the ones that make you really want to go out and beat them next time.”