High school soccer: Judge Memorial edges Juan Diego in hotly contested match

DRAPER — To say Friday afternoon's showdown between the Judge Memorial and Juan Diego soccer teams was a grudge match would be an understatement.

The Region 11 rivals battled from opening kickoff to the final whistle as the Bulldogs (9-1) escaped with a 1-0 victory in the regular-season finale for both squads.

"It was a rough game," said Judge head coach Kelly Terrill. "But I liked the result."

The Soaring Eagle started the showdown in control of the game's momentum. However, when Juan Diego (3-5-2) had a free kick in front of the Judge goal, the Bulldogs came away with the ball and found a free lane to the other end of the field. Senior Eric Malouf sent a shot toward the goal and, on the rebound, collided with Juan Diego goalkeeper Du Nguyen, kicking him in the chest and sending him to the sideline for the remainder of the first half.

The rivals continued to play an aggressive game, resulting in a Juan Diego yellow card just minutes later.

"It's kind of both," Terrill said, when asked if the physical play was due to who they were playing or if it was the style of Judge soccer. "It's a good competition between the two schools. Overall, we try to do our best to stay clean, but sometimes it gets a little hot."

Bulldog senior Cole Pollard put Judge on the scoreboard when he knocked in a free kick in stoppage time at the end of the first half.

The physical play didn't diminish in the second half, as Skyler Doran of Juan Diego was run into the fence along the sideline like a hockey player being checked into the boards. Minutes later, Pollard was dropped to the ground when he was hit in the back of the head with a free kick.

"It was just a rough game," Terrill said. "Soccer is that way. It's not an easy game. The kids are playing hard, and they go hard, and they hit each other. It's a physical game."

Both squads had opportunities to score throughout the remainder of the game, but neither could convert. Alex Benjamin and Luke Bettin were solid in the net for the Bulldogs, while Nguyen and Cesar Ahumada played strong for the Soaring Eagle.

"We've had three games this week, and it's hard to play three games in a week," Terrill said. "We're hurting a little bit, we have a few injuries. But they came through. They put it together.

"We passed the ball around, let the ball do the work and just hoped for the best. We're just trying to get the result."

e-mail: sthomas@desnews.com