OGDEN — The Ogden Outlaws ran into the wrong opponent Saturday evening.
Faced with the task of trying to snap a five-game winless streak, Ogden
took on the Boulder Rapids Reserve, holders of first place in the Heartland
Division and one of the hottest soccer teams in the PDL.
The Outlaws played reasonably well, but
it wasn't enough. Boulder pounced twice, early in the second half, and
coasted to a comfortable 2-0 win, which eliminated Ogden from playoff
contention.
"They know what to do," Ogden
coach Mike Hickman said of the Rapids. "They're running around. They're
organized."
Boulder took permanent control of the game
early in the second half. First, Richard Higa finished a sweet attacking
move by the Rapids. Martin Duran sent a ball across the field to the far
post, which Robert Findley headed across goal toward Higa, who headed
it in.
"Until they got the first goal,"
said Hickman, "it was back and forth."
Shortly after that, Leo De Barros converted a penalty kick to double Boulder's
advantage.
The Outlaws actually played quite well during the early stages of each
half. However, as has been the case on several occasions this year, they
couldn't stick it in the net.
Ogden has been working to add a pair of
talented players to its lineup. Bret Shimizu, a Roy High product who plays
for Stanford University, and James Jaramillo, who prepped at Mountain
View High and will play at UCLA next fall, have added quality to the team.
Still, there's definitely been a learning curve for the rest of the Outlaws.
"We've got to get guys to move more
off the ball," Hickman said.
Saturday's match was Ogden's final home game of its inaugural season.
"I appreciate (the fans) coming out
and supporting the team," Hickman said.
Ogden next has a two-game road trip to Southern California this weekend.
The Outlaws will close out the season against rival BYU on July 22.
Now that the Outlaws have been eliminated
from the playoffs, what will be the focus of the squad?
"The goals are the same — we
wanna win every game," Hickman said.
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