T-Wolves prevail in overtime

OREM — The Timpanogos girls soccer team knocked off Orem 3-2 in overtime on Tuesday as the prep sports season officially kicked off. The nonregion game was meaningless as far as standings go, and neither team was at full strength — Orem was absent two of its starting midfielders and the T-Wolves had six players resting some different bumps and bruises. But, it was a good early look at two of the best teams in the valley and, ultimately, the signs were positive on both sides of the field.

Timpanogos showed off its striking ability and used its three-defender formation to keep Orem's talented forwards relatively quiet. For the Tigers' part, they shook off a slow first half and fought from behind twice to force overtime

"It's always nice to get off to a good start," said Timpanogos assistant coach Jim Jaramillo. "It's nice to get a win at the beginning and try to build off that. We had some errors but we'll clean it up as the season goes on."

With the win, the T-Wolves snapped Orem's regular-season unbeaten streak which numbered 23 games dating back to September of 2005.

"We started a little slow, but I was proud of our girls for the effort they put in," said Orem coach Ed Louder. "We just haven't really gelled well on the field yet. The second half I felt like we started playing like the team we can be at times."

An early defensive mistake that gave Timpanogos the first scoring chance. In the 17th minute Angelica Dickson scooped up a loose clearance and set up Marissa Nimmer. Nimmer, a freshman playing in her first-ever varsity game, one-touched the ball from 35-yards out and struck into the lower left corner.

Dickson almost made it 2-0 minutes later, but her outside shot was turned away by a dive from all-state goalkeeper Aly Tucker.

In the 59th minute, Tanisia Wilson leveled the score when she cut inside her defender on the left wing and hit a shot from well outside the box.

Dickson took the lead back 12 minutes later, scoring another shot from distance after a nice solo run. Orem's Anne Shallenberger forced overtime, knocking in a Kaci McNeil cross just seconds before the whistle.

Dana Oldroyd hit the golden goal three minutes into the extra period, sneaking up top from her defensive position and knocking in a shot from 30-yards out after a well-placed chip pass from Noelle Sanders.

"I'm supposed to stay back," said Oldroyd. "But, I got the impulse to go up, which I like to do. (Orem's) got a lot of talent. But I thought we did well against them."