Park City’s girls soccer team knew it had to bounce back after a tough 7-1 loss to Murray in its last game heading into Thursday’s home match against Highland. The Miners responded with a complete team effort against the Rams.
Senior Shelly Palabrica and junior Leah Yaeger combined for three goals in the second half, and Park City’s defense pitched a shutout to lift the Miners past Highland at home. The Miners improved to 4-3 on the season and 2-1 against region opponents heading into Monday’s home match against Skyline.
“I’m proud of the group for keeping the clean sheet, proud of the group for rebounding, proud of the group for continuing to come together and invest in our project,” Park City coach Anthony DiCicco said. “Days like last Thursday can cause you to question it a little bit, and they got right back to work and deserved the result today.”
Neither team scored in a tightly contested first half. Palabrica scored the game’s first goal when she broke past the Highland defense and slotted a shot past the goalkeeper and into the back of the net. Palabrica’s goal was her first since the Miners played Cottonwood in their second game of the season.
“I felt amazing because I haven’t done that in a while, so that felt good to actually finally score for once,” she said. “I was a little nervous because the (defender) was just right there, so I was, like, ‘Oh, what if she gets the ball and takes it from me?’”
Palabrica added a second goal later in the half when her shot sailed over the goalkeeper and bounced off the bottom of the crossbar. It was ruled that it crossed the line, so the goal stood. Palabrica’s two-goal game came after DiCicco made an adjustment to play her more centrally. Between Palabrica scoring two goals and making an effort to set up her teammates, it worked out for her and the Miners.
“Aside from her goals, one of the things that really should be highlighted was how great her hold-up play was today, which gave us time to create more options,” DiCicco said. “I thought she was awesome throughout, so (a) really, really good performance from her today and the whole team.”
Yaeger rounded out Park City’s scoring by adding a third goal for the Miners late in the second half. The junior broke through Highland’s defense and fired a shot. While the original shot was saved, the rebound fell to her, and Yaeger’s second attempt wouldn’t be denied for her second goal of the season.
“It felt good,” Yaeger said. “It was a great ball from Salem (Hull), and it was nice. I didn’t think it was going to go in, but it was a good way to end the game.”
DiCicco wants his outside backs to push forward and get involved in Park City’s attack, and Yaeger has done that for the Miners this season.
“She’s really taken that message to heart and is looking to create that numerical advantage by getting our full backs into the attack,” DiCicco said. “I liked the shot, I like even more that she was resilient and refused to just let them clear it or have it and goes and gets it again. So, I thought that was awesome. But (a) really, really strong performance from Leah and, again, from our whole back line.”
A diving save in the second half from senior goalkeeper Ruby Richards preserved another shutout for Park City, the fourth of the season for the Miners. Solid performances in all aspects of the game earned the Miners a valuable bounce-back win after the Murray loss.
“I’m really proud of them and everyone to step it up and really put in the effort today,” Yaeger said. “Especially after that loss at Murray, it sometimes can be hard to bounce back. But I’m glad we did it, and I think we earned it.”