High school boys soccer: Farmington gets past Pleasant Grove to remain undefeated

Tommy Bailey
·3 min read
20140606 A falta de dos fechas en liga regular ya han clasificado para postemporada ocho de los diez equipos. En la fecha FIFA brillan las grandes estrellas en sus selecciones.
20140606 A falta de dos fechas en liga regular ya han clasificado para postemporada ocho de los diez equipos. En la fecha FIFA brillan las grandes estrellas en sus selecciones. | ©istockphoto.com/ChaNaWiT

In a battle of the unbeatens, Farmington found the back of the net twice in the first half and never looked back, ultimately handing Pleasant Grove its first loss of the season.

“A year ago, if you had asked me where our offense comes from, we probably had just one or two guys. This season so far has been awesome because we have had multiple guys with multiple answers. It just hasn’t been one particular player; we’ve had multiple guys step up every game,” said Farmington head coach Aaron Soelberg about his team’s hard-fought 2-1 victory.

While Pleasant Grove had a fair amount of scoring opportunities, it was Farmington that was the more composed and dangerous team throughout the contest.

Farmington went up 1-0 midway through the first half when Kolson Helquist whipped a ball into the box, finding the head of Jackson Cheney. Cheney headed the ball directly at the Pleasant Grove goalkeeper, who couldn’t secure it. Cheney jumped on the loose ball and sent a shot into the back of the net to give the visiting team the lead.

Farmington would double their lead 10 minutes later. Ben Wright got on the scoresheet by curling in a shot from 15 yards out that was out of reach of Pleasant Grove’s goalkeeper. The shot found its way to the corner of the net.

“When we got the dagger with the second goal, I mean Ben hadn’t been in the game more than 15 seconds I think. He just buried that chance, and it wasn’t even with his strong foot. We’ve been preaching to him to kind of use both feet and when you hit a good shot, chances are good that it’ll go in,” Soelberg said.

The intensity and physicality picked up in the second half, forcing the referee to make some challenging decisions that neither side was too pleased with.

“This was a very physical game like we knew it would be. My message to the boys after the game was just to keep your head and let your play talk. When you’re on the road and you’re not getting calls, you have to stay together, and you have to have that chemistry. When you have that brotherhood bond, you can stand the test of time a little bit,” said Soelberg.

Pleasant Grove piled on the pressure in the second half and was able to get one back when a hopeful ball was sent into the box right in front of Farmington’s goalie. Pleasant Grove was able to pounce on the loose ball and tap it past the keeper, adding some late drama to the game.

Farmington players kept their composure for the most part, coming away with the victory and remaining undefeated as they head into region play.

Soelberg said that facing a tough team like Pleasant Grove was the perfect test for his side as they get ready to face some incredibly tough opponents the rest of the way.

“We can’t be satisfied. We have to keep the fire, hunger and desire to want more. We’ve had a great start with the preseason, but now we’re going on to region and it’s a clean slate. We’re going to have to face some tough teams in our region. I think out of the last four years, three of the state champions have come out of our region so it’s going to be a battle, and this was a good test for us,” he said.