The Lady Dragon soccer team spent their week on the road, taking on opponents in St. Anthony and American Falls.  Both the South Fremont Cougars and the American Falls Beavers bested the MHS team on the scoreboard, but the final score wasn’t a tell all of the game.

In their game against the Cougars, the toughest blow dealt was the loss of one of their senior players that has played a crucial role on their team.  Head Coach Sherry Blaisdell shared, “Last week was quite the whirlwind! We had a really rough Tuesday with our senior striker getting seriously injured and
needing surgery.”  

South Fremont jumped to a 3-0 lead in the first half of the game.  The Lady Dragons made adjustments as they came back into the second half of the game to hold the Cougars to just one additional goal.  Unfortunately, they were never able to connect with the net, the final score set 0-4 to end the game.

Thursday, September 4, Malad faced the American Falls Beavers, a tough opponent that has historically been very physical and aggressive.  This matchup was no different.  The Beavers came out strong, tapping in 3 goals in the opening half.  The Lady Dragons were able to punch in a successful goal in the first half to only trail American Falls by 2 as they went into the half.  

Malad outscored American Falls throughout the second half, racking in 4 goals while their opponents only had 2.  With the game tied, it looked as if the game might end in a draw.  Both teams were determined for one more score on the offensive end while trying to hold the team scoreless on the defensive end.  Late in the second half, the Beavers managed to slip one more goal to finally pull ahead, Malad trailing 5-6.

The defeat was disappointing but the successful goals, outscoring the Beavers in the second half, and only holding them to 6 goals was a win in its own way.  The goals against American Falls were all scored by different players, another great achievement by the MHS team. 

Coach Blasidell said, “The girls came back to play harder than ever before on Thursday against AF.  We have a lot of girls willing to go all the way and score, which is awesome. The coaches could not be more proud of how hard the
girls played!”

The loss of an injured player can be devastating to a team, especially one with great talent and experience.  But with determined players, they learn how to adapt and make the best of the situation, much like the Lady Dragons did this last week.  Coach Blasidell commented on her team, “Many girls had to switch positions to fill our spot at starting striker, and they stepped up to the plate!”

Malad will have a big week as they host three games in the upcoming week.  First they will take on the Marsh Valley Eagles on Tuesday, September 9.  Then Thursday they will go up against the Snake River Panthers before playing the Firth Cougars on Saturday morning.