<strong>BRIGHAM CITY—</strong> The Logan girl’s soccer team pulled out a big one road victory Friday, as the Grizzlies defeated Region 5 rival Box Elder, 4-2.
After starting out slow the Grizzlies stepped it up in the second half, thanks to Taylor Horsley who had an impressive performance, as she scored all four of Logan’s goals.
Despite the Grizzlies offensive explosion, it was the Bees Lana Willard who struck first with a goal in the 38th minute. Willard barely snuck the goal in, just catching the far post to get inside.
Logan was quick to answer back, however, scoring just a minute later. Horsley was assisted on her first goal by Kanyan Ward, who crossed it for a one strike goal to knot things up at one apiece heading into the intermission.
This was the first time in nearly three weeks that Logan had all of its players on the field, though Ward was limited to half the game after returning from a stress fracture in her foot.
“The biggest part for us was defending against Lana Willard,” Logan head coach Mitch Peterson said. “We adjusted our defense to stay on top of her, it was a little chaotic at first and it took the girls a little bit to figure out how to play, so at half we had to make a few adjustments. After the changes, the girls came out and really dominated the second half.”
Logan struck first in the second stanza to take the lead, as this time Jamie Dyer assisted to Horsley for an open shot that she placed well on the far side past the goalie for the score and the lead.
Box Elder was quick to answer, tying the game up again in the 63rd minute. Despite giving up the second goal, Logan outplayed the Bees on defense keeping them at bay for the remainder of the game.
“They had us back on our heels a while,” Peterson said. “But I feel like we neutralized Lana and then it was like, ‘Okay, who else are they going to go to?’ It was a big win, we’ve made some adjustments, and we’re healthier now than we’ve ever been, so let’s hope it stays that way.”
Coming down to the final minutes, Horsley earned her hat trick off a loose ball as Box Elder struggled to clear. Horsley kicked it in from 10 yards out to take the lead in the 75th minute. Three minutes later Horsley impressively scored her fourth goal of the night, beating several defenders and the goalie to seal Box Elder’s fate and Logan’s win.
“I was taking notes and coaching,” Peterson said. “And one of the girls on the bench said Taylor’s got a hat trick and I thought, ‘Holy cow,’ and then Taylor gets one more a moment later. She played really well. It was a very physical game – they’re a very rugged and tough physical team. I felt like we were able to battle against that and see it through to the end.”