Girls soccer: Nelson’s hat trick helps Box Elder get back on track at Roy
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- Box Elder’s Brooklyn Nelson (21) fires a goal against Roy High’s Hanna Moyes (2) and keeper Alexis Beene during a region girls soccer game Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026, in Roy. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Box Elder High players celebrate a goal during a region girls soccer game against Roy on Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026, in Roy. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Roy High’s Chloe Ellis (14) battles Box Elder’s Marley Barber for the ball during a region girls soccer game Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026, in Roy. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Roy High sophomore Ruby Turpin stretches to control the ball during a region girls soccer game against Box Elder on Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026, in Roy. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Roy High’s Kenzlee Woodson, left, and Box Elder’s Marley Barber, right fight for the ball in front of Roy goalkeeper Alexis Beene during a region girls soccer game Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026, in Roy. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Box Elder High’s Milley Barber, right, rears back for a kick as Roy’s Ruby Turpin (8) gives chase during a region girls soccer game Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026, in Roy. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Roy High’s Phoebi Manzanares handles the ball during a region girls soccer game against Box Elder on Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026, in Roy. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Roy High senior Summer Garton plants into a kick during a region girls soccer game against Box Elder on Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026, in Roy. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Box Elder’s Taylor Nye, right, attempts to head the ball in front of Roy High’s Taylor Bennett during a region girls soccer game Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026, in Roy. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Box Elder’s Lily Tonioli (25) makes a move against Roy High’s Jenna Reed during a region girls soccer game Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026, in Roy. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
ROY — The idiom “There’s a first time for everything” means an unexpected or unprecedented event can happen to anyone.
There were multiple firsts in the girls soccer match Thursday between Box Elder and Roy, including junior Brooklyn Nelson’s first high school hat trick.
Nelson’s three goals and a pair of two-point braces by junior teammates Taylor Nye and Londyn Wright led the Bees to an 8-0, mercy-rule rout of Roy in Region 5 action.
Two of Nelson’s goals came in the first 13 minutes, as the Bees (5-1, 1-1 Region 5) flew to a quick 2-0 lead.
“My teammates set me up really well. I had the runs, made them, and they found me open and I finished,” Nelson said. “The first one I kept going for it and was able to get it in the net. On the second one, I saw the goalie was sitting on my left side, so I aimed for the far side.”
Her first goal was indicative of four of Box Elder’s eight goals on Thursday, where the initial shot didn’t get past Roy keeper Alexis Beene, but the ball finally emerged from a scrum in front of the net and crossed the line.
“Second-chance goals; our coach (BJ Barber) tells us never give up on the play, and that’s what we did today,” Nelson said.
Speaking of firsts, Box Elder freshman Sadie Lifferth got her first start in goal, after the starting goalie was injured in the Bonneville game on Tuesday, and she pitched a shutout.
“I thought of it as just another game; our defense was strong and our whole team played pretty well. They locked in today and shut them down,” Lifferth said. “Middle backer Marley Barber and center Adrie Young made it so easy.”
Roy’s (2-6, 0-2) first shot on goal came inside of five minutes left in the half, in contrast to Box Elder’s aforementioned game against Bonneville. After an undefeated preseason, the defending Region 5 champ Bees laid a 3-0 goose egg in their first region game and had to recalibrate for Roy.
“We kind of went into that game like all the other ones. Bonneville was a wake-up call for us. We didn’t come out the way we should have. They’re a really good team,” Nelson said. “A big contributor to our success today was everyone stepping up and being a leader; keeping it positive when we were on the field.”
In soccer, it is sometimes difficult to see who scores the goal out of a crowd, but on the other four goals that weren’t contested, the Bees players had a lot of room to maneuver.
“In our last game, we struggled with spacing; we worked on that a lot, keeping the field open, where it’s easier to find the goal,” Nelson said.
Following Nelson’s two goals, Nye scored her brace, and Box Elder led 4-0 at the water break on a 100-degree day midway through the half.
Nye and Nelson then sat out the remainder of the first half. As Nelson explained: “A few of us sat for a second; let other girls play and keep us safe from injuries.”
Wright added her brace with a goal in each half, and freshman Heidi Lewis had Box Elder’s other tally.
Nelson’s hat trick came on the final play of the game, when she converted an excellent corner kick by Maddison Barber, invoking the mercy rule in the 52nd minute.
“When I got the first two goals, hat trick was in the back of my mind, but I wanted to keep being a team player, and if it came, it came,” Nelson said. “It was a really good corner and I just happened to be there.”
First-year Roy coach Kennley Bradley returns to her alma mater after graduating in 2021 and playing college soccer at Snow College and Texas State.
“I always wanted to coach, to find a way to stay involved in soccer after playing in college,” Bradley said. “It’s so fun to share the knowledge I have in this sport with these girls; hopefully they’re able to learn something.”
Allowing five goals in their opening region loss to Northridge and now eight to Box Elder, there is a big learning curve for a team with only one senior, defender Summer Garton.
“She’s amazing. She tries hard every single game. I couldn’t ask for any more from her; she’s a great example,” Bradley said. “The biggest thing we need to do is learn our defense, how to shoot, how to defend; what works for our team and what doesn’t … trying new formations and seeing what players in what positions.
“It’s nice to have a young group. It will be a little rocky our first year, but when these sophomores are seniors, they will have been in our system for two years and then we’ll have a group to build our program to what it used to be,” Bradley said.
