Having played 100 minutes on a windy day at Ron Thorne Stadium Thursday Oct. 10, Bingham seniors Savvy Olson, Alexi Ames and Kaitlin Carroll stepped up to the center circle one last time. 

Both teams played to a 0-0 draw through two regulation halves and two overtimes apiece—and now No. 16 seed Bingham and No. 17 Fremont were taking each other on in the penalty kick shootout. 

After four kicks each, the game stayed knotted at 2-2. On its fifth attempt, Bingham left no mistake about it, splashing the back of the net with the game ball. Moments later, Fremont kicked its fifth attempt wide of the left post, handing the Miners a 3-2 win on penalties.

Bingham’s players and coaches responded seconds later by storming the field. As winners of the 6A first round matchup, this would mark the first time in three years that the Miners advanced to the 6A second round. The Cinderella story would end there, unfortunately, as Bingham lost 8-0 at Lone Peak on Tuesday Oct. 15. 

For the five seniors that included Izabel Weller and Audrey Phillips in addition to the three captains Olson, Ames and Carroll, their final seasons at Bingham marked something else—that first round state playoff win erased a tough season in Region 2 play that ended with a 1-11 record and let the five go out on their home field as victors in a game they’ll remember for the rest of their lives. 

Ames not only led the line for Bingham as one of its senior captains—she led the team in scoring with five goals this season. Both she [three] and Phillips [two] were tops on the Miners in assists while Olson and Weller each paced Bingham with nine corner kicks. 

Not only that, Bingham [5-14] had its three senior captains play in every game and Weller, all but one for the Miners. In addition to that, four underclassmen played in as many games as those four seniors, giving you an idea of the kind of balance and depth Bingham could have going into next year. 

In terms of shots taken, the Miners had two sophomores finish with eight and seven, respectively. When it came down to shots on goal, sophomore Molly Cunningham finished second on the team with 15 while freshman Brooklyn Vance had seven. 

And, of those penalty kicks taken in the shootout win over Fremont, a junior and a sophomore scored for Bingham, joining Ames on that list. 

The Miners also had two goalkeepers play throughout the season. Vance had the most appearances, starting in 14 games and allowing only 20 goals. The freshman’s goals against average, or GAA as it’s commonly known,
was 2.16. 

Sophomore Norah Obed was the other keeper for the Miners; she appeared in 11 games and finished with a 2.66 GAA. Both Vance and Obed were instrumental to Bingham’s success and best finish since the 2020-21 season as they combined for 132 saves. 

In front of Obed and Vance was a stout defense that rarely made mistakes, even though it often played several starters who were relative newcomers to the positions they were playing. In fact, the Miners as a team only received a total of three yellow cards and no red cards. 

Bingham also served notice to the rest of Class 6A that the Miners might be a handful to tackle next season if the team were to
remain intact.  λ