Celtic Storm has loftier goals than state cup

OREM — After the final whistle blew for Celtic Storm's U-18 girls state cup win, Kilee Quigley wanted to celebrate in boisterous fashion. She quickly looked around, however, and realized that nobody was joining her.

That's because the Storm have loftier goals than just being the best competition team in Utah.

Still, Celtic took an important step toward achieving those goals by beating the Firebirds, a team composed mostly of East High players, 3-0 on Monday at the spring State Cup.

"I tried to celebrate but everybody looked at me like I was a doofus," said Quigley, who scored the game's opening goal.

It was the fifth-straight state cup won by the Celtic Storm, who advance into the Far-West Regionals next month.

"Five years. . . not too shabby," said coach Robyn Bretzing. "They were really fired up because they wanted to win five in a row."

The Storm are based in Orem but have talented players throughout the Wasatch Front.

By virtue of a wild-card system, both teams were guaranteed a spot in the regionals, which will take place in Aurora, Colo. Because of that fact, some had been wondering how seriously Celtic would take the state final.

Quigley provided that answer in the 11th minute with a brilliantly taken strike. Roughly 40 yards off the line from the right side, the former Cottonwood High player ran onto a loose ball and fired a screamer that dropped in at the upper-left corner of the goal.

Quigley, who will play at Idaho State next fall, commanded the center of the field and played well at both ends.

"She's been dying to score in the state cup," said Bretzing.

After more persistent pressure, the Storm doubled their lead inside 33 minutes when Candice Clark nodded home a cross from the left side.

Twins Amelia and Sydney Stoker each played well for the Firebirds, but the team struggled to break down Celtic's defense.

Perhaps the Firebirds' best chance of the game came in the 56th minute when Kiersten Nilsson was played into a one-on-one scoring opportunity. Nilsson fired a shot on goal, but Celtic 'keeper Kira Lazenby did well to kick save the ball away.

Right winger Jana Davis finished off the Firebirds in the 70th minute. Great work from Clark and Katie Larkin helped break down the defense, and the ball eventually fell to Davis, who beat the charging goalie and fired the ball into the open net.

Every member of the Celtic Storm will be playing collegiate soccer on scholarships, including five players who signed for BYU.

For all their individual talent, though, Bretzing said the strength of the team has been its togetherness.

"They know each other so well," she said.