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Emma Thornton smoothed her black and white striped jersey in front of Woods Cross goal. The Highland sophomore had just taken a hard foul in the 43rd minute and was composing herself as teammate Alix Margolis prepared to take the free kick. In the Region 6 battle against Woods Cross, Thornton remembered that Highland sits on what once was a prison and smirked in pride of her inmate roots.

The kick was on frame but was batted down by Wildcat keeper, Rachel Noel. In the melee for the loose ball, Thornton charged. Swiping the ball from the ground, she finished with her left for the sole goal of the game.

"We can't lose in stripes," Thornton said of the 1-0 victory. "That was the most stressful and exciting game we've ever played, definitely since Woods Cross is such a physical team."

The Rams improve to a 7-2-1 regional record with Thornton's 12th goal on the season. In an out-and-out physical match with the Wildcats controlling the tempo with aggressive and physical play but Highland survived with nearly perfect play from the defense.

They held Woods Cross to seven shots on goal and survived five corner kicks.

Coach Brad Kooyman credited the new defensive scheme that manned up against Woods Cross's Haley Stafford, Kennedy Yost and Eden Jacobsen. Singling out the Wildcats best players, Kooyman said his defense was excellent in stopping the attack and clearing the ball. After losing to Woods Cross on August 28 by giving up four unanswered goals in the second half, Kooyman credited his defense for committing to disrupting Woods Cross offense.

"That game was a battle, huge for regional standing," Kooyman said. "The girls executed awesome leaving nothing on the field."

Anchoring the defense was senior Suzi Breceau. The fullback spoiled runs and made key stops to keep the shots on goal to seven. Breceau said fighting through the physicality and maintaining the game plan was crucial for the victory.

"We worked together as a team trying to remain focused and getting the ball up the field," Breceau said. "The key to our defense is trusting each other and treating each other like sisters." —

Storylines

O Highland's 1-0 victory was a physical match with three yellow cards being issued, two for the Rams, one for Woods Cross.

• Highland's Haley Archuleta was taken off in the second half after a hard collision. She is expected to start against Kearns on Thursday.

• Keeper April Owens registered her sixth shutout on the season.