Defense rules the day as 3A powers Park City, Judge tie

Park City, the defending Class 3A state champion, entered Tuesday's game against its rival Judge Memorial on a roll offensively.

The No. 1-ranked Miners had scored six goals in each of their previous three Region 10 matches. Playing against that high-powered attack, Judge had a defensive game plan. The Bulldogs used that plan and a home-field advantage to keep the scoring down, settling for a 1-1 draw.

"I guess the games between these two teams always go like this," said Miners' first-year coach Matt Evans. "It doesn't matter the records, these teams have a rivalry that just naturally makes the games close."

Other than the rivalry, the reason Judge kept it close was the mind-set that it employed. Keeping nine and even 10 players back behind the ball, the Bulldogs tactically intended to keep the game close and hoped to win it by counter-attacking or scoring on set pieces.

"It may not have been the prettiest soccer," said Evans, "but it worked for them to get the result."

While Judge packed it in defensively, Park City played a passing, ball-controlled attack. It all started at the back with sweeper Lindsey Lisonbee collecting the ball and passing it out to the wings.

In the defensive and middle thirds of the field, Park City knocked the ball around as midfielders Eli Reed, Rachel Ritter, Lisa Scaglion and Alex Woodcock moved up as a unit. The problem arose when Park City tried to move to the offensive third. With all those defenders back, the Miners could not find space to operate.

"I think it was a little confusing for our players," Evans said. "They would beat one or even two players, but there was a third and sometimes a fourth back there that they weren't used to."

The result was Park City either was dispossessed, or would fire a shot from 30 yards out. The Miners outshot Judge at about a 5-to-1 clip, but not even a quarter of those shots were on target. The only way the Miners found the back of the net came on an 18th-minute penalty shot from Reed.

Judge sat back in its defense and tried counter-attacking. It did not result in many scoring opportunities, but the Bulldogs capitalized on a free kick in the 58th minute. Marquel Reddish placed a beautiful shot over the keeper's head from 35 yards for the equalizer.

In other soccer games Tuesday:

REGION 1

VIEWMONT 9, FREMONT 1: After falling behind early, the Vikings erupted for three goals in a five-minute span to blow the game open.