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South Jordan Journal

Bingham girls soccer eager to compete in Region 4

Sep 07, 2018 03:08PM ● By Jana Klopsch

By Josh McFadden | [email protected]           

The Bingham girls soccer team hopes this season starts off more like last season ended rather than how it started.           

So far, so good.           

Competing in the challenging Region 4, the Miners tied for third last season, posting a 5-7 record. Bingham was 10-9 overall, suffering its most losses since 2014. Still, the team advanced to the Class 6A semifinals where it lost to Syracuse 4-1.           

Though Bingham’s season concluded in defeat, the Miners caught fire at the end of the year after starting off slowly. Bingham was 5-7 two-thirds of the way through the season but rebounded to win five of its next six games. These included a pair of state tournament victories over Hunter in the first round and over three-time defending champion Davis in the quarterfianls           

This season, head coach Tennille Vance must replace last year’s leading scorer Baylie Saunders, who tallied 10 goals. This doesn’t mean there aren’t quality candidates to pick up the slack. Addyson Anderson returns after registering six goals a year ago, good enough for second on the team. The senior forward will team up with senior Ashlee Kammeyer, junior Kallie James and junior Megan Beckman to lead the offensive attack.           

Goalkeeper Danielle Orr also graduated, leaving the job to junior Hope Ramirez, who posted a shutout last season in backup duty. Sophomore Ella Pierce and junior Aysha Payne will help anchor the defense. Senior Emily Song, along with Beckman, are among the standouts in the midfield for Vance’s squad.           

The Miners opened the season Aug. 7 at home against Riverton. For the fourth year in a row, the team started things off with a win. Thanks to goals from Anderson, Kassandra Leonce and Shelby Keating, Bingham prevailed 3-1. The Miners built a 2-0 lead at halftime and kept Riverton at bay.  

Two days later, Bingham had another home game. This one was against Class 5A’s Alta, which went 9-5-1 last season. Junior Madelynn Richards put a shot in the net in the first half, and the two teams went into the locker room knotted at 1-1. Neither team scored in the second half or in the overtime period. Unlike state tournament action, regular season games do away with shootouts and preserve tie scores, so that’s the way this one ended.           

The Miners traveled to Bountiful on Aug. 14 and to Highland on Aug. 17. Bingham will open its Region 4 portion of the schedule on Wednesday, Aug. 22 against Lone Peak. The two teams shared third place in league standings last season.           

Bingham must finish in the top four of the five-team region to qualify for the postseason, something it has done every season this century.