Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SANDY — The Morgan Trojans defeated the Judge Memorial Catholic High School Bulldogs 4-1 to claim the Class 3A state championship game at Rio Tinto Stadium on Saturday.
With the victory, Morgan (15-5) secures its first girls soccer state title in school history. The victory also extends Morgan’s winning streak to 14 games, which started Aug. 24 in an 8-4 win over St. Joseph, and maintains its undefeated record against Judge Memorial (12-6-2) this season at 3-0.
“I’m very proud of the girls,” Morgan head coach Bryan Searle said of his team following Saturday’s game. "To go undefeated in region, and then to play through state and play and win is a great accomplishment for many teams. Certainly going to be one that we’ll remember and focus on at our school.”
In what was the latest of a stellar playoff run, Morgan’s Logan Duran produced a hat trick in her final game as a Trojan, scoring two in the second half to propel her team to its inaugural state title.
“Why the D1 schools aren’t picking her up is beyond me,” Searle said of Duran. “She’s incredible, she’s played that way for many years for me. Superb athlete, somebody that has focused mentally and has become a true team player.”
The rout started quickly for Morgan as Rhylee Freeman opened the scoring with a header in the second minute to give the Trojans a lead they would never relinquish. Senior Morgan Cragun assisted on the goal as part of a two-assist performance in Saturday’s game.
Just minutes later, Duran scored in traffic to extend Morgan’s lead to 2-0 before Judge responded with a goal of it’s own to bring the game back within one. Morgan goalkeeper Taylor Condie made a critical save in tight quarters to prevent Judge from evening the game at two heading into halftime.
Searle spoke highly of his team's defensive effort in only allowing one goal, particularly his sophomore goalie's second-half shutout.
“We told her at halftime to just settle down and stay composed,” Searle said of Condie. “And she did.
"I’m super proud of her as well. She’s come a long way.”
Coming out of halftime with a 2-1 score, Morgan remained largely unchallenged. Early in the half, Duran broke free into the open field to score her second goal and give her team a commanding 3-1 lead. She later followed it up with her third in the final moments of the game.
“This is the first time Morgan has won state ever,” Duran said through tears. "We’re the first team to have our name on a banner. Our name is going to be in the school for as long as this school is there. It still hasn’t registered yet.”
