The following is sponsored by Utah Youth Soccer Association. 6:00pm Lone Peak Park, Sandy, UT
In a very windy game, Sparta FC rode an early first half goal from Shaylee McQuistan all the way to victory.
The game was clearly impacted by the wind as long balls or anything in the air was practically impossible going one direction. In that regard, Sparta lucked out using the weather to their advantage as the broke down the sideline.
The ball made its way to the center before a miskick from the Storm defender gave Shaylee all the time and space she needed to bury one past the keeper.
Sparta had several other great chances as they countered quickly against the Storm possession, it took several outstanding saves from the Storm keeper to keep the game within a goal. As we neared halftime the question became would scoring only 1 goal with the wind be enough.
The second half began and Storm was clearly able to move the ball better, quickly establishing possession. Despite numerous attacking opportunities, Storm struggled with the final ball often failing to get a shot off.
As they continued to push the game opened up which led to several counter opportunities for Sparta, who would feel unlucky to not score a second. A scary moment occurred in the second half as Storm’s number 4 took a bad fall and had to be helped from the field. Unfortunately, the injury clearly affected the way Storm played.
As the game wrapped up it began to look like Sparta would have enough. The wind switched for the last 5 minutes and Sparta was able to seal the game.
Utah Youth Soccer reaches over 50,000 players across Utah, UYSA is the only soccer organization in Utah that offers a diverse range of services and innovative programs to meet the needs of a membership with varied abilities, backgrounds, and financial means.
UYSA is sanctioned by the U.S. Soccer Federation and US Youth Soccer to be the governing body of soccer in Utah. UYSA is also recognized by the U.S. Olympic Committee as the governing body for youth soccer in our state. For more information please visit us at www.utahyouthsoccer.net or call us at 801.307.5150.
