Girls soccer: Worthley saves help Fremont top Ogden in penalty kicks
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- Ogden’s Megan Beau (26) outpaces Fremont’s Taylor Grose (3) and Katelyn Meyerhoffer (22) in a girls soccer match Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024, in Plain City.
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- Fremont’s Avery Chambers loads up to strike the ball in a girls soccer match against Ogden on Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024, in Plain City.
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- Fremont’s Ellie Jensen (10) tries to corrall a pass in a girls soccer match against Ogden on Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024, in Plain City.
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- Fremont’s Taylor Grose (3) tries to dispossess Ogden’s Megan Beau (26) in a girls soccer match Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024, in Plain City.
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- Ogden’s Kate Pulley (8) sidesteps Fremont’s Katelyn Meyerhoffer (22) in a girls soccer match Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024, in Plain City.
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- Fremont’s Kemma Nunn (17) and Ogden’s Capri Colvin fight for possession in a girls soccer match Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024, in Plain City.
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- Fremont’s Ellie Jensen (10) and Ogden’s Rikley Moss (25) spar for the ball in a girls soccer match Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024, in Plain City.
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- Ogden’s Estella Gonzalez, right, absorbs the ball as teammate Seren Gee, left, and Fremont’s Lexi Hadley (9) pursue in a girls soccer match Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024, in Plain City.
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- Ogden’s Kate Pulley stops the ball in a girls soccer match against Fremont on Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024, in Plain City.
PLAIN CITY — Fremont junior goalie Kaitlyn Worthley was alone on an island as the Ogden girls soccer team took dead aim from 12 yards away in the penalty kick phase of a high school match Thursday, following a 1-1 tie after regulation and two overtime sessions.
The Silverwolves put three in the net past Tiger keeper Grace Malan and, with two Worthley blocks and an Ogden miss high, Fremont captured the non-region victory.
“A little bit of nerves but not much stress because we practice PKs a lot,” Worthley said. “I just trust my training and trust my coach, so there’s no pressure.”
Worthley blocked the first Ogden penalty kick attempt and the second one sailed harmlessly over the crossbar. She then blocked another PK and Fremont sophomore Jerzee Watson scored the third attempt for the game.
“Watch their hips. Our coach said to wait behind the line; it gives me more reaction time, so when you watch the ball come, you can find out where it’s going and get that extra step,” Worthley said.
Malan did tally a save in the PK session for Ogden, but Arizeth Reyes and Mia Williams added makes for Fremont to set up Watson’s game-winner.
“(We) were familiar with the order we wanted to go in, but we just made it up today. The girls said ‘I want to go first, second, third, fourth.’ I usually go third, but it was nice to go fourth and get the last goal,” Watson said. “When you’re up there, it feels like the whole world is going to end if you miss; it was good to get it.”
Ogden (2-6) got on the board first when Megan Beau scored a one-on-one shot against Worthley in the sixth minute for an early 1-0 lead.
Fremont (2-3) then pitched a shutout the rest of the afternoon.
“We just needed to adjust. They have (Kate Pulley) and once we adjusted to what she was doing, we shut it down,” Worthley said.
The Silverwolves got even in the 42nd minute on an Ogden own goal and had several near misses throughout the second half, but came up empty.
“It was a very big deal knowing that we weren’t down. It really brings up our energy and we played better as a team; it helped a lot,” Watson said. “It was getting frustrating; we were getting so close to the goal. We couldn’t finish but it ended well.”
Thursday was the third time this season the Tigers have lost on penalty kicks after playing to a draw through 100 minutes of soccer.
“My girls are fighters. It’s definitely been a hard preseason. We have a young team,” first-year Ogden coach Alexis King said. “Part of our problem is the first two weeks we played six games in 11 days. We’ve practiced penalties twice, but we’ve had very little practices with how many games we’ve had.”
As has been their tradition, Ogden has played up in the preseason, with several 6A and 5A schools on the schedule.
“We want to challenge ourselves and challenge our girls to play at a higher level. I’m proud of the work they’ve done and how hard they’ve worked in every single game,” King said. “Overall playing really good soccer … haven’t had the outcomes and scores with us winning at the end.”
