Evans poured 56 goals (tied for fourth all-time in Utah) — tallying a hat trick or more 11 times over the course of the regular season — into her final run alongside her father, fourth-year Jayhawks coach Thomas Evans, in charge of her high school program.

Walled off by American Heritage in the 2A semifinals, St. Joseph missed yet another shot at the 2A crown as the Evans era now moves on without the senior striker of four seasons.

With his daughter committed to Puget Sound, Thomas Evans’ title now changes for good: Sofia’s No. 1 fan.

Sofia Evans is the 2025 All-Area Girls Soccer Player of the Year.

CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner

Two years ago, St. Joseph finished a goal shy of the 2A state title, instead landing in the hands of Rowland Hall, in a contest Evans ranks at the top of her list. She files her latest semifinal appearance — her third in four seasons as a Jayhawk — as a close second.

Evans tied Utah’s all-time single-game record, scoring all eight of St. Joseph’s goals during an 8-0 shutout against Enterprise in the second round of the postseason. She’d draw three or more goals in five consecutive matches leading to St. Joseph’s 2-1 loss to American Heritage.

“Our goal every year since I’ve been a freshman is to get to the semifinals, which we did this year, so I definitely think we hit that broader goal,” Sofia Evans said. “Last year, we didn’t have as good a camaraderie as we did this year. We definitely fixed that.”

Just 15 players deep (including five seniors), St. Joseph bounced back from a 0-2 start to finish 12-5 overall as the fourth-place squad in an ultracompetitive Region 17.

Evans stepped into the shoes left by last year’s 2A scoring leader and All-Area First Team forward Abigail Gough (30 goals) after losing much of last year’s star power to graduation. With a reduced turnout in 2025, St. Joseph leaned on Evans like never before.

CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner

All of this while navigating the cutthroat recruiting process.

“She faced a lot of rejection,” Thomas Evans said. “But then, she had a lot of really good offers, a lot of them East Coast, and then we just went to Seattle and visited Puget Sound — not on a whim, but just as a let’s go see and then fell in love right off the bat. The coach is fabulous. They’re a really good Division III academic and athletic program.”

Puget Sound, a private, four-year college just south of Seattle’s metro in Tacoma, Washington, enrolled just less than 2,000 students this year. Fourth-year Loggers head coach Stephanie Cox won an Olympic gold medal with the U.S. Women’s National Team, defeating Brazil 1-0 at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

The Loggers ended their latest run 14-3-5 with a share of the Northwest Conference title and made the program’s ninth tournament appearance, according to the school’s website. Puget Sound won 14 consecutive conference titles under former coach Randy Hanson from 2002 to 2015 (including a national title run in 2004).

The Evans family came away from their Washington visit impressed, Thomas Evans said.

“For her style-wise, game-wise, coaching-wise, (Puget) checked all the boxes,” Thomas Evans said. “So, it was the light at the end of a really dark tunnel.”

Yes, there’s a soccer prowess to Puget Sound, and the younger Evans intends to keep her academics and athletics closely intertwined. But the reality remains that 2A soccer isn’t necessarily a cauldron for college scouts.

A veteran of the Utah Avalanche club system, Evans admitted she’d always been partial to the high school game since her father stepped up to become St. Joseph’s head coach in 2022.

“(St. Joseph) feels a little closer to home,” Sofia Evans said.

“(Club soccer), for me, has been a road to college. I’ll be playing at Puget Sound because of that, but high school soccer is definitely the ‘I’m playing for the fans, I’m playing for me,’ and so I’m a little bit more passionate about it because I think it means a little bit more to me. I mean, this is my school, we’re trying to protect my home field and our name.”

Evans’ new home of Puget Sound is a little under 13 hours from Ogden, and that’s quite the commute, considering the miles racked up in high school while traveling to the likes of Grand County, Uintah, Parowan, or Millard — each 3-plus hours away by car.

Perhaps more felt will be the absence of her coach-father, but it won’t be for a lack of memories and a high school career compiled by two of the state’s finest to do it.

With five months to go, Evans is counting her blessings.

“I don’t think it’s hit me yet, but it’s going to be a transition for sure,” Evans said. “I’m already kind of feeling it. (Thomas) always has his input, even on my (club) games, but next year there’s not going to be any of that. … I think there was definitely the air of, ‘this is the last time, this is the last season,’ but I think that was more of a motivator than anything else.”

Evans plans to study political science and later pursue law school.

Connect with reporter Conner Becker via email at cbecker@standard.net and X @ctbecker.