St. Joseph Catholic High School’s girls soccer team has had a triple dose of good news this week.

On Tuesday, the Jayhawks beat Waterford 3-0. On Thursday, they beat Maeser Prep 3-2 to win the 2A North region with a perfect 8-0 record, clinching St. Joseph’s first region title in girls soccer since 2011 and capping a difficult, two-week stretch to end the regular season.

Friday afternoon, the UHSAA released the 2A state tournament bracket and the Jayhawks will be the No. 1 seed, which brings with it a first-round bye followed by a home quarterfinal at 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 15.

“We’re riding high, you know,” first-year St. Joseph coach Tom Evans said.

Evans said the team has had some “knocks,” so the week off and first-round bye are coming at a good time.

In the quarters, St. Joseph (10-2) will face the winner of Wednesday’s first-round game between American Heritage and North Summit.

Should the Jayhawks win their quarterfinal, they’d advance to a 10 a.m. semifinal on Thursday, Oct. 20, at Juan Diego High School.

This year’s 2A state championship game is Saturday, Oct. 22, at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman instead of the usual Rio Tinto Stadium location.

St. Joseph is one of the youngest teams in the state with just two seniors and one junior on the roster, according to MaxPreps.

There are eight freshmen and six sophomores. Abby Gough, a sophomore forward, leads the team with 19 goals and co-leads with eight assists. Freshman Sofia Evans has 13 goals with eight assists.

The team’s region title this year broke both Rowland Hall and Waterford’s stranglehold on the region. Rowland Hall and Waterford have combined to win the last six 2A girls soccer state titles.

“Here’s what I’ll say: we were the beneficiaries of a schedule that let us play the bottom half of the region early to get our legs under us,” Evans said. A mid-season loss to Juan Diego helped prepare the team for the back half of region play, Evans added.

Before this year, St. Joseph last beat Waterford in 2019 and last beat Rowland Hall in 2014.

The Riverdale-based Utah Military Academy earned the No. 12 seed in the 2A tournament after going 3-11 this year. The Thunderbirds face No. 5 Maeser Prep on the road at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 12.

NORTHRIDGE def. BOX ELDER

LAYTON — No. 24 Box Elder High girls soccer led 2-1 at the half, then No. 9 Northridge equalized at 2-2 to force extra time and outshot the Bees 4-3 in penalty kicks to win a 5A first-round playoff contest late Thursday.

Kenadee Thomas and Lucy Arnell each scored for Northridge (10-6). Sophia Sivulich had an assist for the Knights, who advance to face No. 8 Bountiful in the second round on Tuesday, Oct. 11.

Sydney Stokes and Kaydence Barber netted for Box Elder. The Bees finish the season with a 6-11 record.

Connect with reporter Patrick Carr via email at pcarr@standard.net, Twitter @patrickcarr_ and Instagram @standardexaminersports.

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