Girls soccer: Nye goals twice, Box Elder stacks 6th shutout in Roy road trip
Late Manzares goal contested by coaches, officials; Bees look ahead to key Region 5 matchup with Clearfield
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- Box Elder greets Halli Wright, right, following a goal vs. Roy during a girls soccer contest on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025, in Roy.
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- Roy’s Taylee Zamora, left, and Box Elder’s Taylor Nye compete for a throw-in during a region girls soccer contest on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025, in Roy.
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- Box Elder’s Halli Wright switches the field during a region girls soccer contest at Roy on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025, in Roy.
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- Roy’s Alexis Beene dives on top of a shot by Box Elder during a girls soccer contest on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025, in Roy.
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- Box Elder’s Amber Murray throws the ball back into play during a girls soccer contest at Roy on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025, in Roy.
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- Box Elder greets Halli Wright, right, following a goal vs. Roy during a girls soccer contest on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025, in Roy.
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- Box Elder and Roy line up for a corner kick during a girls soccer contest on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025, in Roy.
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- An official signals to the scorekeeper during a girls soccer contest between Box Elder and Roy on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025, in Roy.
ROY — Box Elder just made Thursday all the more interesting in the hunt for Region 5 girls soccer’s coveted regular-season title.
Bees sophomore Taylor Nye produced a game-high two goals up top for a fifth consecutive win, a 3-0 decision at Roy on Tuesday afternoon — matching Clearfield with six region wins ahead of their first meeting of the season with the Falcons later this week in Brigham City.
Both of Nye’s first-half goals made for a comfortable halftime lead, and senior Halli Wright raised the Box Elder (8-5, 6-2 Region 5) advantage to three just 11 minutes into the second half.
However, it wasn’t the production third-year Bees coach BJ Barber expected from the same attack that rifled off seven goals in a 7-1 handling of Roy last month. A lack of “creativity” left Barber and his staff disappointed in the road trip, whether or not it ends in the win column.
“I was hoping to rest our starters a little more than we did,” Barber said.
“I mean no disrespect … it’s a game we should win, but we made it a little tougher on ourselves than we needed to. Defensively, (Roy) was solid and read what we were playing. We asked our girls to change it up, and you could see the lack of shots and goals in this one.”
Such concerns aside, the fact remains that Box Elder emerged with its sixth shutout of the season, and fourth in its last five matches. A late goal by Roy freshman Phoebe Manzanares was reversed due to an offside penalty, which Royals coach Bailey Pollock intends to contest.
Returning from concussion protocol, Manzanares nearly prevented the shutout in the final minute, punching in what would’ve been the lone Roy (2-10, 0-7) goal to evade Box Elder senior goalkeeper Emma Nelson through 80 minutes of play.
Defensively, Roy took a step forward in severely reducing Box Elder’s attempts against freshman goalkeeper Alexis Beene, filling the void left by injured starter McKinley Gifford (separated shoulder). Unless the ruling on Manzares’ goal is reversed, Roy will have officially lost five of its last six matches by shutouts of three or more goals.
“I think today was important to show them, and to prove to everybody the work that they’re putting in,” Pollock said. “It’s reflecting, and for their morale going forward, it’s going to help a lot because we’re proving to ourselves and others what we’ve got.”
Roy goes on the road to face Bonneville, another region hopeful, on Thursday with possible implications for Box Elder’s matchup with Clearfield, should Pollock and the Royals flirt with their first region win of the season. The Lakers shut out Roy 8-nil on the road on Aug. 28.
The last Box Elder-Clearfield meeting, dating a year ago, spanned three overtimes, with a Kelly Parke-coached Falcons squad emerging with a 4-2 win on the road in late September. In his first season, Clearfield coach Kam Nordfors leads the Falcons into Thursday on the heels of back-to-back overtime wins at West Field (3-2) and Fremont (2-1).
Previewing Thursday, Barber said the result boils down to headspace and whether his girls are willing to show it on the pitch.
“The ability’s there, the skill’s there, we’ve proven it in lots of games, but the effort and attitude weren’t there today and we’ve got to have that Thursday to make things happen,” Barber said. “I know I have, I know most of the girls have that game circled on their calendar.”
Kickoff is slated for 3:30 p.m. Thursday at Box Elder High School.
Connect with reporter Conner Becker via email at cbecker@standard.net and X @ctbecker.
