The final week of August marked the first games of the season for the Lady Dragon soccer team.  The team started the week with an unofficial exhibition game against a team from Marsh Valley and finished the week taking on the back to back 3A/4A state champion team.  Both games served as a great opportunity for the MHS team to take the field and compete at a high level.

Tuesday, August 26 Malad played their first game on the field.  With it being an exhibition game, the MHS team used it as an opportunity to shuffle players in and out of the game and across the field.  It allowed them to work through various rotations, defenders, keepers, and the like.  Most of all it gave them a chance to work through the kinks and get the early nerves out before their scheduled games began.  

Finishing out the week, the Lady Dragons traveled north to match up against the Sugar/Salem Diggers on Friday, August 29.  The Diggers are undeniably a talented team, winning the 3A/4A state championship two years running.  The team competes year round, something that gives them valuable experience and a real challenge for other teams to take on.

Despite such a challenge, Malad came in undaunted and hungry to play.  The Lady Dragon defense was able to hold off the Sugar/Salem attack, keeping the score tied at 0 for most of the opening half.  But once the Digger offense got going, they were near impossible to stop.

Head Coach Sherry Blaisdell commented on their competition, saying, “They are snipers from out wide and amazing finishers in the box.  When it came down to it, Sugar had us on experience.  Our girls gave them a good fight and never backed down.  We are using this first game as a learning opportunity and a chance to help us get into game shape. We came away seeing what we need to work more on and a fire to get better.”

While a 0-14 loss might seem upsetting, there was far more happening on the field than the simple score reflected.  In the end, the Diggers were only able to score goals on long distance, top of the goal shots and well played corner kicks.  This speaks to the strong Malad defense that shut down every other sort of scoring attempt.

The Lady Dragons worked the ball into scoring territory themselves a number of times.  Seniors Addy Ashby and Jaezie Jensen got shots off for Malad before being deflected and scooped up by their opponents goalie. 

As the game came to a close, the Sugar/Salem coaches and fans couldn’t help but have a little admiration and pride for the Lady Dragons.  Coach Blaisdell reported, “Our keeper, Aubrey Shulz, had an amazing 25 saves on goal. She drew praises from the other teams coaches on her keeper skills.  Sugar-Salems parents also gave praise to our team saying it’s the best fight they have seen put up from a 3A team. We are very proud of how our girls represented Malad.”

The strong start to the 2025 season isn’t something that has just happened in the last few weeks but rather from a summer of training.  After taking the reins for the soccer program, Coach Blaisdell invited her players to participate in strength training and open field practices with the girls 4 days per week.  But it’s not just the physical aspects of the game they are strengthening but the mental as well.  

Coming together as a cohesive unit, especially early in the season is a priority as well.  Coach Blaisdell shared, “We lost a great group of seniors last year and have a large group of new faces this year.  We have been working on being a cohesive unit from day one and the girls have done that naturally really well.” 

Looking ahead at the season, the varsity team is scheduled to have packed weeks through September, with three games a week nearly every week.  Even though that will be a challenge, Coach Blaisdell sees it as a great way to prepare for district play, saying, “I’m excited to see the girls start to compete with teams in and out of our district. I think we have a strong chance of knocking off some 4a schools in our district. Soccer is combined 3A & 4A districts, so it makes it more of a challenge to win districts and make it to state, but we are used to that and the girls are taking the challenge head on.”

The MHS soccer team will continue on the road, playing South Fremont on Tuesday, September 2 and then in American Falls on September 4.