Font ResizeSandy » Over the past four years, the Juan Diego girls' soccer players have been taunted for their inability to bring home a state championship by their school classmates from sports that have won it all.
On Saturday, the Soaring Eagle squashed the talk by defeating Morgan 1-0 at Rio Tinto Stadium in the Class 3A final to bring home Juan Diego's first soccer state title
"They've been up on us, asking when we were going to get ours," said Juan Diego forward Vicki Shimkus. "We showed them this year."
According to coach Jamie Schock, it was about time.
"I was really starting to get a complex about always being the bridesmaid, never the bride," he said.
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It's no wonder. Before Saturday, the Soaring Eagle had reached the state title game twice before -- in 2006 and 2007 -- and fell short in both attempts.
Though Juan Diego controlled possession from the opening kick, Morgan's stifling defense proved to be yet another obstacle standing in the way of the Soaring Eagle's goal. The Trojans' goalkeeper, Mo Freestone, was a brick wall at the net, but after 33 minutes of scoreless play, Shimkus found a hole, and shot a cross-hatch pass past a diving Freestone, which freshman Emily Bruder tapped into the net for the one-touch goal.
"I didn't get a good shot off. I didn't even see it go in," said Shimkus. "[Morgan] was tough to get past. It was a good feeling to know that
One crack was all they needed.
The Trojans continued to pull out some miraculous saves, highlighted by Heidi Ann Benson's header save of a what looked to be a sure-fire bouncing shot by Juan Diego's Jenn Flynn early in the second half.
But the Soaring Eagle came up with some clutch defensive stops of its own. In the 63rd minute, defender Monique Morrison fended off Morgan's Becca Rees open charge at the net, kicking the ball to the far left corner to end the threat. Kersey Davis nearly helped Morgan pull off a last-minute heroic goal after crossing a flawless pass from the right flank to A.J. Bateman at the top of the box in the 76th minute.
The Soaring Eagle dodged the bullet as Bateman's header flew just over the top of the crossbar -- and their reward was a long-coveted championship trophy.
"It's nice to be awarded with the top prize for all the hard work we've put in," said Schock. "We're just going to keep improving."
Juan Diego earns its first soccer state title with a 1-0 win over Morgan.
» Freshman Emily Bruder notches the one-touch game-winning
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» Trojans keeper Mo Freestone saves a multitude of shots on goal to hold Class 3A's most prolific offense to just one goal.
