East begins title defense with win over Springville

East High, the defending Class 4A state soccer champion, began its title defense Thursday with a 1-0 victory over Springville.

The Leopards scored the only goal of the game on a corner kick in the 21st minute of the first half. East's Jade Adamson set up teammate Lauren Porter with a perfectly placed kick. Porter then used her head to knock the goal in past Springville goalkeeper Hannah Silvey.

"That's how we won the game," says East coach Mike Kernodle. "We've been working it the last couple weeks. It's good to see we can get it done when it counts."

The Red Devils failed to capitalize on several scoring opportunities, including a free kick that hit the crossbar.

Trailing 1-0 in the second half, Springville's Karissa Henage barely missed the free kick from point-blank range.

"I thought it was in," the junior said. "I could see the opening in the goal and it just hit the bar. It's really frustrating," she said.

Lost opportunities were the story of the day for Springville.

"It was a great shot, we just weren't able to get more," said Springville coach Ryan Swanson.

Playing the defending champion didn't intimidate the Red Devils and most of the team wasn't even aware that East was the Class 4A champion.

Swanson said his team didn't adjust very well to the speed of play in the first half.

"I don't think they really took us out of what we wanted to do. We just didn't adjust well to the speed of the field," he said.

"It's a smaller field but that's why you play for the home field. We earned it," Kernodle said.

Springville struggled under the pressure of the Leopards' swarming defense. Several times in the first half, the Red Devils just kicked the ball out of play rather then attack the East defense.

"We couldn't find each other in the first half. It was rough," said forward Crosby Joyner.

In the second half, the Red Devils played with much more urgency but could never solve the East defense.

---

E-mail: tpetersen@desnews.com