Timpanogos sets sights on a larger prize

OREM — Just as the Timpanogos girls soccer team huddled together to celebrate after being awarded the Region 7 championship trophy, someone in the crowd was overheard mentioning that the state championship trophy is a lot bigger and shines brighter.

After beating Orem 2-0 to finish off a clean sweep of the region on Thursday afternoon, the celebration was lively but short for the Timberwolves. After all, they had already clinched the best record in Region 7 a game earlier.

Now Timpanogos is just one game away from finishing the regular season undefeated and is looking almost unbeatable heading into the state tournament.

"I never set expectations of being undefeated because that's a tough goal to meet," said Timpanogos coach Natalyn Lewis. "But after the first practice I told them that I could feel a good chemistry between them and that I felt like we were going to go a lot of places this year."

Earlier in the year, Orem gave Timpanogos arguably its toughest test of the season, taking the Timberwolves into two overtimes before losing 1-0. Again on Thursday, the Tigers put up a struggle for most of the game but eventually caved in to the Timpanogos pressure offense and fell behind on two second-half goals.

After a scoreless first half Timpanogos' Shantae Adams broke away from the Orem defense down the sidelines and rolled a slow pass in front of the Tiger goal. Jennifer Nielsen tapped the shot in behind the keeper for a 1-0 lead in the 57th minute.

Timpanogos had several good chances but couldn't extend the lead until the 78th minute when Stacy Bartholomew broke away in front of the defense and hit a clear shot from 15-yards out to make the score 2-0.

"They had a couple of great opportunities and we had a couple of great opportunities," Lewis said. "When we put in that second goal I knew they didn't have time. (It was) definitely a big sigh of relief."

Sutton Cherrington recorded the shutout as Orem struggled all day long to get consistent offensive opportunities.

"Our defensive backs played outstanding," Lewis said. "They just did not allow a lot of people through on that back line."

Orem will try to clinch second place in region with a win in its final game at Mountain View on Tuesday.

Timpanogos will play its final regular-season game against Class 3A North Sanpete on Thursday. With a win, the team will finish with a perfect 14-0 record.