5A high school soccer: Fremont blanks Murray in tourney opener

PLAIN CITY — If there was anyone worried that one of the state's hottest teams was going to come out flat in the playoffs, the Fremont Silver Wolves put those fears to rest pretty quick Tuesday.

Fremont dominated Murray from start to finish, picking up a 4-0 victory in the opening round of the 5A girls' soccer playoffs.

"The girls were pretty nervous today, but we came out and got it done," Fremont coach Sean Hill said.

If they were nervous, it definitely didn't show. From the opening kick, the Silver Wolves were in complete control, pushing the ball deep into Spartan territory and getting plenty of good looks on goal.

Fremont had a number of close calls early on, as shots were sailing just above the crossbar or being knocked away by Murray keeper Sasha Anderson in the game's opening minutes. The Silver Wolves finally broke through in the 18th minute, as Taylor Ivins took the ball up the right side and crossed it back to Mikayla Elmer, who put it just out of Anderson's reach to make it 1-0.

Eight minutes later, Fremont's Ryley Hansen tried to cross the ball from the left side, which was snatched away by a diving Anderson. Unfortunately for the Spartans, however, Anderson lost control of the ball and Fremont's McKell Wall kicked in the rebound.

"I was in the right place at the right time and was able to put the ball away," Wall said.

Fremont went quickly back to work in the second half, as just five minutes in Ivins took a pass in the middle of the box and put one between Anderson and the right post to make it 3-0. Gabrielle Warner would finish the scoring for Fremont, knocking in a deep goal from outside the box that sailed over Anderson's head to put the Silver Wolves up 4-0 with just minutes to go.

While the scoring onslaught was impressive, Fremont's defense was equally as good, frustrating Murray's attack throughout the entire game. Almost every time the Spartans managed to clear the ball from their own end, Fremont's defense suffocated Murray's front line and took possession. The Spartan offense never once threatened Fremont keeper Kelsey Parsons, only managing a few actual shots on goal the entire game.

"We wondered what we were going to do with our defense going into the season, because we only had one returning starter [from last year]," Hill said. "They've really stepped up, they've done the job and they've impressed us every game."

Fremont hopes to keep their momentum going, as they prepare to next take on a tough Bingham squad that downed Jordan 6-4 on Tuesday.

"We just want to keep coming out the way we did today and just attack," Ivins said.