Shelby Madden had 5 goals for the Corner Canyon Chargers on Thursday, leading all scorers while earning the first victory. The Grizzlies late run fell short, ending the game with a 12-10 scoreline for the Chargers.
Madden scored the first goal of the game when she caught the transition pass near the top of the box and took it the cage. Copper Hills scored tied the game when McKenna Huber converted a free position opportunity. The Grizzlies reeled off two more goals, one by Kiara Montoya and one by Madeleine Keller to take a 3-1 lead which led to a Chargers timeout to try and stop the momentum for Copper Hills. The strategy worked, leading to two goals for Corner Canyon to tie the game at 3. A heads up play by Huber led to the next goal when she found her sister, Madalyn Huber, wide open on the crease who then converted her close range shot for the goal. The Grizzlies extended its lead when Keller found a spark and weaved through the defense and bounced it in for the goal. Corner Canyon would answer when Madden cut across the middle of the field, caught the pass from Elizabeth Nygaard on the wing and quick-sticked it in. After a yellow card on Copper Hills, Emily Berbert took the ball from in front of her own goal, all the way down the field where she found Madden waiting at the top of the offensive area. Madden drove right then face-dodged back to the left where she spotted Ashton Whittle. With just 4 seconds remaining in the half, Whittle buried the shot far pipe to tie the game at 5 going into halftime.
The Chargers used the intermission to regain focus which led to a dominant opening to the second half. Whittle had back-to-back goals to take a 7-5 lead at the 19:21 mark. Amanda Anderson found the back of the net for the Grizzlies but Corner Canyon answered right back with 5 straight goals, 4 from Madden, to take a commanding 12-6 lead at the 5:42 mark. In what seemed to be a game that was all but over, the Grizzlies wouldn’t lose without a fight. Copper Hills scored 5 straight goals to make the score 12-10, but it was too late, the time expired with the Chargers earning its first victory of the season.
“We’ve been working a lot on stick work,” said Corner Canyon Head Coach Jim Williamson. “We were able to get good possession in the beginning of the second half and move the ball well in transition.”
Each team controlled 12 draws. Corner Canyon Goalie Dakota Halford had 5 saves while Copper Hills Goalie Constence Rasmussen had 3 saves.
Corner Canyon will head to Cache Valley on April 13 to take on Sky View while Copper Hills will head to Bingham on April 4.