All-Area Girls Soccer Team of the Year: Morgan seniors saw team through final test against biggest rival
Trojans left with much to defend next fall
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- Morgan’s Lacie Poll (16) and Kapree Charlton (25) celebrate a 2-1 win vs. Ogden during the 3A state championship vs. Ogden on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024, at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman.
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- The No. 4 Morgan girls soccer team hoists the 3A state championship trophy after defeating No. 6 Ogden 2-1 Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024, at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman.
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- Ogden’s Isabella Gray (10) races after Morgan’s Macie Burton (13) during the 3A state championship vs. Ogden on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024, at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman.
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- Morgan’s Lilly Evans (10) and Kendall Peterson (12) celebrate a goal during the 3A state championship vs. Ogden on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024, at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman.
MORGAN — More often than not, the same netting reappears on a team’s home soccer field every fall. If a school replaces the net for a goal, the old one likely ends up in the waste bin.
But the nets at Morgan High’s home soccer pitch won’t receive such fate, instead finding their way into memory boxes, bedroom walls, or perhaps strung over the Trojans’ fourth all-time 3A girls soccer championship trophy residing somewhere inside school walls.
Eleventh-year Morgan head coach Bryan Searle sees to it traditions are upheld within his program, and the distribution of a championship season’s net sits high on his list — especially this latest one.
Falling short of the title a year ago, the Trojans’ 16-5 finish and Region 13 title wouldn’t have been enough without state bragging rights. And defeating the defending champion Ogden team that curbed Morgan’s four seniors — Macie Burton, Lacie Poll, Emma Toone, and Macey Miller — of that feat made it a full-circle career for Searle’s coveted captains.
Morgan, Ogden, or both, have been listed in the past five 3A state title games.
“For our girls to beat a team, such a good (Ogden) team, to beat them versus somebody else is just a little extra special and that’s because of the battles we’ve had ever since they’ve come into our region,” Searle said.
Like their rivals on the other side of Thurston Peak, Morgan encountered an unexpected loss ahead of the 3A title game. The Trojans entered the match without starting goalkeeper Skye Bernardo and Ogden hit the field without Standard-Examiner All-Area Player of the Year Kate Pulley.
Searle recalled his pregame discussions in Herriman, painting a picture his senior class already burned into their heads before the opening whistle. Morgan and Ogden were tied 1-1 in their regular-season series and this time around, more than some hardware was on the line.
“I told them we’re in a different situation,” Searle said. “They deserved to go out there and play to win because they’ve worked so hard for four years to get to that point. We had some of our youngers get a little frazzled in some of those games but our (seniors) stepped in and settled them down, reassured them that things were good and just kept pushing them to go forward.”
A corner kick by Poll found sophomore Kendall Peterson in just the right spot for Morgan’s deciding goal against Ogden in the second half of the 3A title match. Poll, now preparing for her college debut at Idaho State, was hesitant to set aside her uniform later that evening.
“I didn’t really want to take it off,” Poll said. “I’ve worn a Morgan jersey to represent Morgan for four years. It hit me the next day, going back and looking at pictures, I’m no longer able to spend all my time with all my teammates. … We won state this year, but I’m really going to miss this team.”
Next fall, the Trojans will field a relatively younger roster with much to prove in filling their seniors’ cleats. But among the traditions gluing Morgan together year-to-year is the role each senior class takes during the preseason. Each senior is paired with one or multiple freshmen throughout the season, pushing teammates’ relationships off the field and beyond the classroom.
“They follow them through the year,” Searle said. “Their responsibility is to stay in contact with them through the season, text and call them two or three times a week, make sure they’re doing good because for the youngers coming in and playing on a daily basis — five days a week — is more than what they’ve done in the past. It’s hard.”
In four years of soccer, Poll leaves the “youngers,” as Searle and his seniors refer to the team’s underclassmen, with some simple advice from someone who’s been a part of three state-title chases during her time as a Trojan.
“Practice how you play,” Poll said. “Us four seniors really took on leadership and the youngers obviously need to do that to. When you’re at practice, you need to be present in the moment and work your butt off — then you can play afterwards.”
Morgan holds the most recent pair of back-to-back championships (2017, 2018).
Connect with prep sports reporter Conner Becker via email at cbecker@standard.net and X @ctbecker.
