BOUNTIFUL -- The Bountiful Braves soccer team has one thing on their minds when they play soccer . . . possess, possess, possess. If they can control possession of the ball they feel they can control the game. And that's just what they did on Friday. The Braves defeated their rival, Woods Cross, on Friday 2-0 by dominating challenges and controlling the time of possession. The Braves will look to continue that control and try to make some noise in the upcoming 4A state tournament this week.

Bountiful was aggressive on the attack and relentless at winning challenges on Friday, and the Wildcats were never able to get any rhythm offensively.

The Braves put the pressure on the Wildcats early when Braves senior, Dallin Petersen, scored the game's first goal 10 minutes into the contest. The second goal followed just before halftime on an impressive corner kick goal from Braves junior Michael Knight.

"I think that this win is really great for us," Knight said. "It helps us get back on that slope up to the state finalsÖthat's our long-term goal, to win a state championship."

Bountiful was held scoreless in the second half, but was able to possess the ball and keep Woods Cross out of scoring position.

The Braves' smart passing and good backfield defense limited the Wildcats' shots-on-goal, and Woods Cross failed to get anything on the scoreboard.

"We really stressed possession, and really worked on it," said Paul Campbell, assistant coach for Bountiful. "When we play possession, that's our game. If we can possess, we do well."

Bountiful junior Judd Wray said the key to winning challenges and possessing the ball is to keep the defender guessing.

"(You have) to make them think you have more than one option to go, so they're worried about other things," Wray said.

Woods Cross was worried about other things and it ultimately cost them the match.

"If it was a 50-50 ball, they won most of them," said Kevin Rigby, Woods Cross head coach. "They more consistently won the ball and when we won the ball, we had a tendency to give it away, so we didn't maintain good possession."

Coach Campbell of the Braves said this win helps the Braves prepare for the upcoming state tournament.

"It's nice to have a game like this where we put it together. It's a complete game, we can possess, we get it in the net, and we keep it out of the net on the other side," Campbell said. "It's a real confidence builder that we can play the way we want to play and the way we should play, and when we do there's good results."

The Braves will now wait to see who they will be paired against in the state tournament, which gets under way tomorrow.



thatch@davisclipper.com