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SANDY — Only a freshman in high school, Chloe Sadler has been around the world with the game of soccer, through the U.S. youth national system, to training stints in Germany, and winning a club national title while playing up a couple of age divisions.
The 4-foot-11 midfielder from Hyde Park knows big moments, and on Friday afternoon, she stepped up to one of her biggest.
Sadler scored the opening goal of the 4A state final from the penalty spot, and Utah State commit Austin Miller added another as Green Canyon won its first 4A girls soccer championship in school history 2-0 over Park City at America First Field.
Ivy Wengreen earned the shutout for the Wolves (19-1).
"It's crazy," an emotional Sadler said after the match. "I've played across the world, but playing in this stadium makes this even better."
In the sixth season of the North Logan-based school, Green Canyon rolled to its third-ever semifinal by out-scoring teams 50-10 to its third-ever semifinal Wednesday at Zions Bank Stadium.
The run almost ended there, tied with region foe Ridgeline 0-0. But Sadler wouldn't let it, scoring off a free kick with 30 seconds left to lift the Wolves into their first-ever final.
On a team with Miller and a handful of Aggies, as well as BYU commit Kyleigh Hastings, Sadler has regularly stood above the fray.
On Friday, she did it again.
For the first time program history, Green Canyon are @UHSAAinfo 4A girls soccer champions 🏆 pic.twitter.com/tzSE3QKWkD
— KSL.com Sports (@KSLcomSports) October 20, 2023
After a scoreless first half, Sadler drew a penalty to set up the biggest play of the match.
The freshman with U.S. U-15 national experience was dropped near the edge of the penalty box, but immediately brushed herself off and headed toward the penalty spot after a foul was called.
Nervous much? You betcha.
"In these games, it's pretty nerve-wracking," Sadler said. "If you miss it, you don't score. I was pretty nervous. But I just decided to go my one way, which is left, and she went the wrong way."
Sadler stepped up in the 51st minute, collected herself only briefly, and calmly buried her eighth goal of the season inside the left post that gave the Wolves a 1-0 advantage.
"She deserved it, honestly," Miller said. "She's probably the most humble player I've ever met. She's got USA camp invites three times a year, and you'd never guess that with the way she holds herself. I love playing with Chloe."
Humility is a common descriptor of the pint-sized midfielder with the world in front of her.
"Chloe's been in some pretty big situations," Green Canyon coach Kirt Stadler said. "She won a national championship playing up four years with La Roca. So she's been in these big arenas — but Chloe would never show that she has, because she's a pretty humble kid. And that's the best part about her."
Miller finished off the scoring in the final minutes of the second half, icing the match with her team-high 15th goal of the season against a stingy defense from Park City (17-3) that had only conceded 23 goals in 20 matches.
"It was like my third (shout) that I missed," Miller said with a laugh. "I'm glad I finally put it in."
The Wolves had been to the state semifinals twice, but never broke through. So when Sadler's second extra-time free kick clinched a 1-0 win over fourth-seeded Ridgeline, Green Canyon had already made history.
This team wasn't satisfied with second place, though. The Wolves wanted a different kind of history.
"They saw the passion for the boys' title last year, and they saw the excitement," said coach Sadler, who led the Wolves' boys team to a state title last spring. "From that day one, when we entered the season, they were all in. The second I had the team picked, they wanted as much as you can."
