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With his blond hair dyed blue, bright yellow shoes and frequent trips into scoring territory, Copper Hills soccer player Alan Lemasney is hard to miss.

After scoring just two goals in 2010, Lemasney has emerged as a deadly goal scorer and leads the team with 10 goals through 10 games. Lemasney attributes his personal success to off-the-field work, and the memory of his best friend, Jose Ceballos, who was killed in a traffic accident in January.

"I dye my hair blue and wear a leg patch with Jose's number on it in memory of him," said Lemasney. "We always talked about doing well our senior season, and not having him around just inspires me to work harder."

Copper Hills opened the season with its only loss, a 3-2 decision to Brighton. In their second game, the Grizzlies got past Lehi 2-0, with Lemasney scoring both goals against the defending Class 4A champs.

"I think his confidence is key, and as he's gotten more touches he's improved," said Copper Hills coach Michael Shaughnessy. "He's a really unselfish player and it's rare to have a big man who has skill, with a shot like a rocket that's accurate."

Shaughnessy is quick to point out the play of midfielder Oscar Zamudio and center defender Logan Anderson as having an impact on the success of the Copper Hills program.

Offense, though, was the one area Shaughnessy was concerned about heading into the season with the loss of Anthony Nixon, who scored 17 goals last season.

"We lost six seniors and that was an enormous loss for our program," he said. "Oscar has provided leadership for some of the younger players and really carried our defense."

It was the offense though that was supposed to struggle. The Grizzlies apparently didn't read their press clippings as they are the second highest scoring team the 5A with 34 goals.

After a 15-3 campaign in 2010, the Grizzlies are taking it one game at a time and hoping for better results in postseason play.

"We haven't played Bingham yet but our first goal is always to win regions," said Lemasney. "Beyond that Copper Hills has never made it past the quarterfinals so that is one of our goals."

The Grizzlies have five games remaining in their regular season, including two dates with undefeated Bingham. —

Grizzlies carry on

Copper Hills soccer is undefeated in region play this season and boasts an 8-1-1 record, with its only loss coming in the season-opener against Brighton.

Senior Alan Lemasney has scored 10 goals in 10 games after finding the goal twice during his junior campaign.

Lemasney dyes his hair blue before every game and wears a leg patch with the number of teammate Jose Ceballos, who died in January.