5A girls soccer playoffs: No drama as Davis rolls into the semis

KAYSVILLE — There was no drama in this one.

Davis looked every bit like a title contender in Thursday's 3-0 victory in its 5A state quarterfinal matchup against West.

Dart forward Katelyn Mcleod said the team's success this season can be attributed to the unity of its players.

"There's no drama on this team," she said. "We all love each other."

The Darts struggled at the beginning of the game — not moving the ball the way they would've liked to. While they were aggressive, they were unable to create scoring opportunities early on.

But Davis got on the board in the 28th minute on a goal by Annie Johnson. Then two minutes later Mcleod scored on a penalty kick. The scores gave the darts a 2-0 lead going into the half.

While the Darts were happy to have the lead at the half, they were frustrated with the slow start.

"We started out slow," Mcleod said. "But we picked it up."

Mcleod credits better passing for Davis' ability to pull away in this matchup.

"We talked about passing better at the half. We know the way we need to play. We know where we need to be."

Davis was in all the right places in the second half — anytime West made an effort to push the ball up field, Davis was there. Davis had several scoring opportunities in the second half, but could only capitalize on one shot, though many of its other shots kept on hitting a non-human defender.

"We kept on hitting the post," said Davis coach Souli Phongsavath.

Davis' final score came in the 75th minute when Kenzie Harrison and Johnson raced down the field, outrunning the West defenders. Johnson found Harrison on a perfectly-placed pass and Harrison split the backpedaling defenders and fired a shot in the right bottom corner of the net just passed the diving goalkeeper. The score iced the game for the Darts, giving West an almost insurmountable deficit to overcome with only five minutes remaing.

West coach Eldon Brough said that Davis is the real deal and is a legitimate contender for the state championship.

"Davis deserves a lot of credit and respect," he said. "They've got to be tabbed as the favorite to win state at this point."

Next for Davis, a trip to the semi-finals and a date with Brighton.

"No matter who we play, we're going to have to be ready." Phangsavath said.

For Brough, the loss to one of the state's best teams served as validation for his squad's success this season.

"I'm really proud of our team." he said. "I thought we came out and played really hard. In games we've lost in the past, we wouldn't have responded like we did today. The effort never changed all game. I think it was more than Davis expected."