JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. — With round 2 of winter raging in Jackson, and a last-minute pitch clearing effort by the Evanston community, just to get a soccer match in on Friday afternoon was a feat. The Jackson girls (5-1-1, 3-1-1) had loftier goals than just playing. They took out some frustration against the bottom feeder Red Devils (0-7, 0-5) for an 8-1 win in Uinta County.
After beginning the season 4-0, the Jackson girls got a taste of the kind of grind-it-out soccer that is going to be required to make it to the top of the standings in the competitive 4A West.
“We are fighters. We work hard,” third year coach Kristen Pizarro told Evanston radio in a pregame interview. “I told the girls on the bus ride home from Casper last weekend: ‘You have what can’t be taught, can’t be coached. You have drive, dedication, resilience, and passion.’”
All of that and more was on display in Evanston as the Lady Broncs dominated play early with the kind of ball possession and passing game they’ve come to be known for. Jackson actively engaged every player in all parts of the field as they moved the ball around flawlessly.
Jackson 8, Evanston 1
The shifty Melissa Morillon Jiminez did everything but score in the opening minutes. She was impossible to cover for the Red Devils but just could not get the ball in the net.
Finally, after yet another pretty passing sequence between Morillon Jimenez and Phoebe Alva Rosa that failed to produce, senior Maylia Lohman got tired of waiting. She sent a bomb from distance that found the upper right corner for the game’s first tally with 36:06 to play in the 1st half.
As good as Jackson was playing early (What a pass from Piper Lee to Taya McClennen who fired it right into Evanston goalkeeper Brinkley Francom), it was a fluke goal that accounted for the Lady Broncs second score.
A weak centering pass that no Red Devil managed to clear made it all the way to the waiting left winger Eva Flanagan who knocked it home from close range to make it 2-0 with 31:24 to go in the half.
Energized by that tally, Flanagan used her speed to beat an Evanston defender one-on-one for her second goal of the contest to make it 3-0 at the 25:43 mark.
No way Jackson’s big guns were going to be kept off the score sheet. Star senior Alva Rosa put Jackson up 4-0 with one of her classic lasers—a shot from midfield that no one saw coming until it was in the back of the net. Sophomore McClennen later fired one past Francom to make it 5-0 at the half.
Moved up front as coach Pizarro started working through the bench with a big lead, it was Brooklyn Hills who showed off her offense. Normally, a steady defender, Hills caught up with a beautiful go ball and banged it home for a 6-0 lead to begin the 2nd half.
Jackson gave up their only goal on a strong corner kick by Katy Saxton. The Lady Broncs had good numbers in the box but got caught standing around as a loose ball found Kinnley Hintze and she beat Sidney Nash from pointblank range to make it 6-1 with 18:45 to go in regulation.
A fantastic individual effort by freshman Karoline Motes-Chavez resulted in Jackson’s 7th goal of the match. Motes-Chavez turned her defender inside-out before stuffing the ball into the goal with 11:35 to go.
Junior Regan Harvey put an exclamation point in the victory with the game’s final goal off left wing with 4:30 to play.
