5A high school girls soccer playoffs: Davis sends home Riverton, looking forward to Alta

KAYSVILLE — The Davis High girls' soccer team held the edge in just about every area as they knocked off the Riverton Silverwolves with a physical 1-0 quarterfinal victory Thursday.

Spending time deep in Riverton territory, the Darts attacked the goal mercilessly and exhausted the Silverwolves' defense.

Despite the clear dominance, they were unable to convert their offensive efforts into goals and the 1-0 win would come as the result of a Riverton own goal.

Davis' Haley Direda sent in a free kick from the top of the box and Riverton defender Kylie Bodily attempted to clear it with a header. In spite of her efforts, she sent it in the wrong direction and the Darts found themselves on the scoreboard.

Although that would be the only goal, the Davis victory could hardly be attributed to that one Riverton mistake.

The Darts seemed to control the game for the full 80 minutes as they wreaked havoc on the defensive end and shut down Riverton top scorers Darian Jenkins and Mallory Bostic.

Jenkins, who has committed to play for UCLA upon graduation, has the ability to make high school soccer look like a recreation league with a cluster of defenders following her around the field.

The Darts did their homework, however, and this would not the case. They were successful in keeping her as far away from the net as possible, utilizing a double-team tactic.

"She's a fantastic player and we just wanted someone else to beat us," Davis coach Souli Phongsavath said. "Even by man-marking her the whole time, she still almost beat us."

Ten minutes into the half, there was a slight momentum shift as the Silverwolves had three consecutive corners and near-miss scoring opportunities.

The Darts refused to let up though and goalkeeper Dani MacKay would eventually earn the shutout with the help of her teammates, who were perfect in their unyielding defensive effort.

"I was freaking out the second half because I knew they'd be coming at us hard," MacKay said. "But my defense stepped up and played such a good game."

With the win, the Darts will meet up with the No. 2 ranked Alta Hawks at Juan Diego Tuesday. The Hawks blanked West High 8-0 in their own quarterfinal contest Thursday and will be fierce competition.

"If you're going to win a state championship, you have to go through Alta," Phongsavath said.

The fact that they are such a high-ranked and reputable team only excites the Davis Darts more.

"We've been looking forward to playing them all year," MacKay said. "They beat us in the state championship two years ago so we kind of want a little payback on them. They're the best team in the state right now and it will be a good game."

Email: jwilde@desnews.com