The Cottonwood boys soccer team has been dealing with a variety of lapses that have had an effect on the way they’re attacking in games. 

“I think our most recent game against Hillcrest provides the best snapshot to understand our entire season. We gave up two really lousy goals to go down at halftime then completely flipped the momentum going attack after attack the entire second half but just falling short 2-1,” said Cottonwood head coach BryLee Harvest. 

“Multiple crossbar hits, shots narrowly going wide, and even one last gasp corner kick where our keeper headed the ball on goal but it got cleared out of the box on what would’ve equalized the teams on the last kick of the game,” said Harvest of his team’s struggles to put the ball in the back of the net. 

But, on April 23 at Park City, they figured it out. 

Junior James Vaughan, a defender for the Colts, scored the game’s only goal to give Cottonwood a much-needed 1-0 victory on the road, and for Harvest, perhaps a sigh of relief as the yellow school bus wound its way back down Parleys Canyon toward Salt Lake’s city limits. 

It’s been a rough season for Cottonwood [3-8, 2-5 Region 10] but this win over Park City certainly made the struggle feel even more worth it. 

For one, there is an absolute dogfight at the middle of the standings in Region 10. Hillcrest is 3-3 and the Colts and Park City each have 2-5 records, while Jordan is 2-4. Only so many teams can get into the 4A state tournament that begins in mid-May. 

Coach Harvest said he doesn’t want to leave the final decision in the hands of the UHSAA as to whether or not the Colts make it back to the state tournament; he’d rather put it at the feet of his players. 

“We have been competing in every game this season inching ever so closer with each one, but with time running out, we desperately need results to make the playoffs,” said Harvest, who is in his third season running the Colts. 

But, with the win over a fourth-place Park City team the Colts are likely to be at least back in the playoff conversation. 

At the moment, the Colts are ranked No. 22 in the 4A boys soccer RPI; the UHSAA takes only the top 24 seeds for the state tournament. Cottonwood has three games remaining on their schedule, all in Region 10: at a Stansbury squad that is struggling as bad or worse than Cottonwood [May 1] and home contests against Tooele and Jordan. 

The good news is that the Colts already beat Stansbury at home earlier in the season but needed a goal in overtime from junior Kambali Kangeta to accomplish it. On the season Kangeta has been the Colts leading scorer with five goals. 

In the final analysis, this is a senior-laden team for Cottonwood. Seniors Rex Hansen and Craig Stephenson have each scored two goals for the Colts, while junior Parker Evans has had two assists as has Stephenson, who is also one of the Colts’ captains. 

On the whole, the Colts have 12 seniors returning from a squad that went 6-9 last year but was bounced in the 4A state tournament’s first round by Timpanogos, 0-4. In coach Harvest’s eyes though, the Colts have plenty of work to do. 

“Our mindset is to go (undefeated) to finish this season, it’s winning at all costs,” Harvest said. “I don’t think any of us would’ve predicted we would be in this spot at the beginning of the year, but we are and all we have is each other to get us out of this.” λ