Tough start results in Timpanogos girls soccer loss to Mountain Crest in 4A championship | News, Sports, Jobs

The start to the 2024 4A state girls soccer championship turned out to be a dream scenario for one team and a complete nightmare for the other.

Unfortunately for No. 3-seed Timpanogos, it was top-seed Mountain Crest who took control.

The Mustangs scored two goals in the first three minutes to build a commanding lead, then held on to defeat the Timberwolves, 3-1.

“To me, this game came down to taking advantage of opportunities,” Timpanogos head coach Robyn Bretzing said. “In the first four minutes of the game, we couldn’t clear the ball. We would struggle getting out of the back, and they were hungry for a goal. They capitalized on the opportunities that that we gave them.”

After the disastrous start against a really good opponent, the Timberwolves had to make a choice: Would they just go through the motions or would they dig deep and try to battle back?

The answer was clear as Timpanogos fought for every ball and pushed for every opportunity.

“I think you take away the first four minutes of the game, it went back and forth from there,” Bretzing said. “We created the same opportunities that we gave them, but we didn’t get lucky. We didn’t put the ball in the back of the net.”

She said she was incredibly proud, though, of how her team responded to the adversity.

“After those two goals went in, I thought, oh no, it could become a disaster quickly,” Bretzing said. “But I thought the girls responded and said, ‘heck no, we’re going to step up.’ The rest of the half I thought we really stepped up and created our own opportunities.”

Unfortunately for the Timberwolves, Mountain Crest would tack on a third goal in the second half. Even then, Timpanogos kept attacking and eventually broke through on a shot from senior Haley Hutchins in the final minutes.

“I was proud of them for putting the ball in the back of the net,” Bretzing said. “At that point, you knew you probably weren’t going to win the game, but they were not going to go without scoring. I think I was really proud of them for finishing strong.”

In many ways, despite not being the outcome they wanted, the way the Timberwolves played in the championship was true to the character of this Timpanogos squad.

“This team has always been a super scrappy team,” Bretzing said. “I think they’ve battled against some really good teams in the playoffs. We had to fight and find a way to a win in the quarterfinals and in the semifinals. Today, I think that heart and that battle showed in that they didn’t quit.”

Getting back to the state finals was an accomplishment this Timpanogos team can always be proud of, according to Bretzing.

“I think they’ve exceeded my expectations because we knew that we had some holes to fill from last season’s team.” she said. “But I think the girls stepped into those positions and got us to where we are today in the finals. I’m really proud of this team.”

The Timberwolves will have more holes to fill because it has eight seniors graduating.

“I’ve had great leadership all year long,” Bretzing said. “They’ve been positive and show the girls an example of how to be good leaders. I think that’s what’s got us into the final game, that positive leadership and that encouragement of those young kids, getting them to step up every practice, in every game, to believe in themselves and let them know that they believed in them.”

But she also hopes the next group learned from this experience and comes back hungry for more.

“We’ve got a lot of younger talent,” Bretzing said. “We are really excited for the future of our program because we’ve got some really good players coming up.”