By Brian Shaw  |  [email protected]

On a team largely filled with new players and a new head coach the Cottonwood Colts girls soccer team continues to endure some hard lessons as the season goes on. 

Dominic Militello stepped down from his position as head coach this past summer in order to focus on his consulting business—handing the reins of the Colts program to his longtime assistant, Kailee Sandberg Jorgensen. 

While the Colts under Jorgensen have yet to dole out any 10-0 beat-downs—such as the two they administered last season under the tutelage of Militello who guided Cottonwood to three wins in 2017—they have shown some signs of life this season. 

“This season is a building season for us; seven of our varsity starters are sophomores,” said Jorgensen. “We’re working to redefine our version of success. I’m very proud of the girls and their daily effort to change the culture.” 

Makayla Montoya netted for Cottonwood in a closer-than-thought 7-1 loss to Jordan early on in region play—followed by a highly competitive 4-0 defeat to a talented Timpview squad sitting near the top of the Region 7 standings in a two-game home stand Aug. 28 and Aug. 30. 

“The girls had a lot of fun playing against Timpview,” added Jorgensen. “They play with heart and give effort every game, but the game against Timpview has by far been our best game in regards to effort.”  

Cottonwood continued region play on Sept. 6 and Sept. 11 traveling to Brighton and to Alta—two teams also considered locks for state tournament play. 

The Colts struggled in both of those games, falling behind 6-0 to Brighton by the half before coming together more cohesively on defense to finish the game strong in an 8-0 loss. 

Against Alta, the Colts again fell behind early, trailing 5-0 at the break before solidifying their defense more to drop another match by the score of 8-0. 

While the amount of goals the Colts have allowed is rather troubling, the good news is that with such a young team, the Colts have nowhere to go but upward as they continue their season. 

A home game with unbeaten Corner Canyon, a team many consider to be among the best in Class 5A, was up next on Sept. 13. 

Cottonwood lost that game 10-0, allowing eight goals to be scored in the first half and again Cottonwood tightened down its defense in the second half to stop Corner Canyon. 

But with the second half of the season and lots of soccer still to be played, the Colts and their new coach will continue to have optimism. 

“We have four varsity starters who are injured right now, so honestly what I would like to change is for them to get healthy and be able to compete,” said Jorgensen. “My coaching staff and I are lucky that we have the girls we do. They play their hearts out every game, no matter the score.”