By Billy Swartzfager | [email protected]

Girls soccer at Bingham is off to a fantastic start to begin the 2016 season, having lost only a single game. As of Sept. 19, The Miners were 6-1-3, with their only loss coming to region adversary Copper Hills, which is undefeated and atop 5A’s Region 3. The team started the season with two big shutout wins against Riverton, 4-0 on Aug. 8 and West, 7-0 on Aug. 16. 

“One of our goals is to create as many shutouts as possible this year,” said third-year head coach Tennille Vance. So far the team has had four.

Bingham followed up its first two wins with a tie, their first of three, against Bountiful, 1-1 on Aug. 18. The second tie came against West Jordan on Sept. 6, a 0-0 stalemate. The Miners also have big wins over 5A Region 3 rivals Brighton and Jordan, beating the Bengals by a goal on Aug. 30 and drubbing Jordan 5-1 on Sept. 8 on the Beetdiggers’ home pitch.

“We look forward to region rivalry games, like Brighton, Copper Hills and Jordan,” Vance said. “Brighton is always a big game.”

Bingham is being led by an evenly spread, talented team. Junior goalie Danielle Orr has kept Bingham opponents scoreless on five separate occasions, while a number of players have scored during the first half of the season.  Another goal the Miners have is to be able to finish scoring opportunities. For the most part, they have done so. Baylie Saunders, Addy Anderson, Emily Song, Sydney Benson and Baylee Powell have all scored multiple goals for the team so far this year. 

Vance said the team is doing well defensively as well. He said the team captains do exceptionally well communicating with and leading the defense. 

“Our captains are defensive minded and really aggressive defenders,” Vance said.

The team is looking to stay sharp as the season comes to a head, wanting to come out on top during region play and play well into the state tournament, which begins on Oct. 12. The Miners made it into postseason play last season but lost in the first round to the No. 1 team in their bracket, Lone Peak, 6-0. 

The Miners want to finish higher in region this season. As a No. 4 seed last year, they were forced to square off against a No. 1 seed, leading to an early exit at the state tournament. So, by working on shutting other teams out and finishing at the goal, Bingham hopes to begin state tournament play as a better seed, postponing dates with higher seeds until later rounds. 

“If we can contain other teams and finish up front on offense, we should be able to win most of our games,” Vance said.

The talented, quick Bingham squad has been a tough matchup for most teams this season and will need to continue being so if they wish to make it as far as they desire and further than last year. But, they have pieces in place that will help them go after their goals competitively this year. Most of the girls on the team are underclassmen. There are only three seniors on the team; the rest are mostly juniors and seniors, along with one freshman. The Miners are a committed bunch, playing for one another, building chemistry for this season those to come.

“We are talented defensively,” Vance said. “We play well against high-caliber teams. And these younger players are learning together and should be a powerhouse team in the future.”