The Carbon High girls soccer team labored through the Labor Day weekend with a pair of losses. The Dinos lost 5-0 to Desert Hills on Friday before heading to Hurricane and taking an 8-1 defeat. Carbon followed up this week with an 9-0 loss to St .Joseph in Ogden on Tuesday.
Coach Jerad Upwall was happy with the effort, especially in game one against Desert Hills. “We held them to only two goals most of the game. Our bench is not deep and the weather was scorching and we wilted in the end. But the play they exhibited told me we can hold our own against the teams in our region.”
On Saturday the team had not recovered and played against Hurricane. Hurricane had placed second in state last season and had most of that powerful team back. Felicia Olmos was able to score against them in the second period to avoid the shutout.
“We just couldn’t compete. They are a bigger, stronger team and we left in on the field the day before. Back to back games just kill us. We don’t have the bench to keep fresh. Several of the girls had heat problems both days,” summed up Upwall.
The tough pre-season schedule didn’t let up as the Dinos took on the top ranked 2A team of St. Josephs in Ogden on Tuesday afternoon. The Carbon offense was again shut down by the stronger team. It didn’t help that three starters for the Dinos sat out with injuries. Leading Dino scorer Olmos, Hanna Downard and Jazmin Moncada were not available to help the Dino squad. A balance scoring attack by St. Joseph came at the Dinos all afternoon and the squad suffered another loss.
Coach Upwall admits to this being a grueling pre-season line up for the team, but he feels like the experienced gained has been enormous. “I don’t care if we lose by 20, the experience of playing the toughest teams we can find is invaluable.”
He is optimistic about his team’s chances in region play. “I see three qualities about this team that is giving me hope.” He went on to say that it is the team’s positioning on defense; their passing as a team; and their communication that make them contenders. He has watched his squad grow in leaps and bounds since the beginning of the season, especially on defense.
The biggest weakness remains the team’s lack of depth to their bench. But the good news is three more joined the JV squad last week and now he does not have to play any varsity in the JV games, keeping their legs fresh for the varsity games. Twenty-seven girls now make up the total soccer roster.
One more road game with Uintah on Thursday will wrap up the pre-season for the Dinos. They will begin region play against North Sanpete here at home on Wednesday, Sept. 10.
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