Alta Soccer–Chris

“I played soccer on the “73 Express” the spring of my 8th grade year. I then quit soccer in the fall to play football and basketball and lost some of my soccer skills. I also played football my sophomore year.”  Chris’ Journal

“So when I tried out for the Alta High School soccer team the spring of my freshman year, I wasn’t as good as I should have been. The tryouts cut all the participants from over 100 down to 29 players. They had to cut one more player and it came down to three of us, a sophomore named Chris Rees, Justin Naylor (one of my best friends) and me. Chris and Justin made it, and I got cut. I was heartbroken. Now that I look back, I was really jipped. Chris Rees wasn’t that good. He played for half that season and got suspended for grades and hasn’t played since. And the only reason Gus made it over me is because his older brother Brandon was Coach Mitchell’s star player for four years,and Coach hoped for the same from Gus. But now, my Junior year, Chris Rees doesn’t even play and Gus plays behind me on both JV and Varsity. Another reason I was jipped was because Coach could only pick up 4 new players because that was how many seniors graduated from the year before. So the only two freshman on the team were my best friends, Darren Burrup and Gus Naylor. But the following year, about 10 freshman made the team. So it was bad timing and a little politics.

As a sophomore, I made the team and started on the JV team throughout the whole year. I played left outside halfback, a very demanding position. I only scored 2 goals but I had a lot of assists. Both our Varsity and JV teams had a great season. Our JV record was 11 wins, 3 losses, and 2 ties. 1/2 point short of the best JV record ever. Our Varsity ended up 2nd in region, but we lost in an upset to Clearfield in the inter-region playoff, in large part due to our star goalie breaking his leg early in the game. It just about killed Coach Mitchell when we lost. Brighton went on to take the State Championship. The only game Brighton lost all season was to us. So at least we beat the eventual State Champions.”  Chris’ Journal

“My Junior year, however, was a much different story. I played JV again, but I also played Varsity, sometimes playing up to 1.5 games a day - which was extremely tiring seeing how hard it is to just play one full soccer game. Our JV team went through he preseason games without being scored on. However, we tied Hillcrest 0-0. Then in the first half of region play, we got scored on 4 times, twice by Brighton. We won our first five and tied our sixth against Brighton. Then in the second half of the season, we killed everyone. We beat Brighton that second match 6-2. Our final stats were 14 wins, 2 ties. This was by far the best JV record ever. Our goal ratio was 8.5 to 1. We scored 68 goals and opponents only scored 8 all season. (4 were by Brighton). I was the starting center halfback. I scored 10 goals and had 10 assists. I am especially proud of my assists.”  Chris’ Journal

“Varsity this year was even sweeter. our main goal, of course, was to win the State Championship. We began this quest in preseason with 2 sound victories over Bingham and American Fork. We then won a fairly close game against Hillcrest. And we tied Jordan (the team that ended up winning the 3A State Championship that year). We wish we could have replayed Jordan, we should have killed them. Then we faced our region. We breezed through the first half of region without even being scored on in the six games. Meanwhile, we scored 23 and obviously won every game. The 2nd half of the season, we had an easy time as well. We easily won our first 4 games, but then we got cocky, lost our head and tied against both Cottonwood and Brighton.”  Chris’ Journal

“So we went into the State tournament with a record of 13 wins and 3 ties along with first place in region for the first time in Alta history. We then had to play Roy in the interleague playoff. Alta had lost in the inter-league playoff the previous 5 years. But we soundly defeated Roy 2-0. The score says it was close, but we demolished them. The State Tournament was held at Hillcrest High School in 1990. Our first state game was the quarterfinal vs. Taylorsville. We dominated them in regulation, but could only put one goal in the net. They scored a lucky goal putting the game into overtime. We finally began to convert our shots and scored twice in the overtime period, defeating them 3-1.

The semifinal game was against Viewmont. This was our hardest game of the year by far. They were a great team. Both teams scored once in the first half and once in the second half. No goals were scored in the second half and a shootout was necessary. Our first four shooters sunk their shots, and our goalie, John Ragsdale, saved one of their shots. So all we needed for the victory was a make by Shane Jones, our forward and probably the best player in the state. He was our penalty kick shooter throughout the year and he had never missed all year. But the Viewmont goalie made a save on Shane’s attempt so we moved on to Sudden Death. Our goalie hit the post on his shot, but made up for it by saving their kick. Then Jared Dixon and Chad Utley both made their shots along with their Viewmont opponents. Then Darren missed his kick, but Rags made an awesome save and it moved on. Our 10th shooter, Matt Smith, sunk his shot and his opponent shanked his over the pole and we won the semifinal game in the most dramatic game I have ever been in.”  Chris’ Journal

“The next night was the State Final versus Davis, a team that Viewmont had defeated twice in the regular season. This game wasn’t even close. We scored in the first half when Shawn Thompson deflected Cory Hayes free kick into side netting. Shane Jones then scored about 25 seconds into the second half putting up up 2-0 With about 12 minutes left int eh game, our goalie Rags and Cory were passing it back and forth to take time off the clock, when a Davis offender snuck in between them and scored before either of our players saw him. And to make matters worse, Shane was given a red card to add to his collection and kicked out of the game when he hit the ball in the goal with his hand. That goal didn’t count and we were forced to play with 10 players. But John Carper, our other forward, took a kick from Rags and dribbled it down and scored to ensure our victory and the State Championship. We Are The Champions. It was the best feeling I have ever felt when that final whistle sounded. I am still on a natural high over it and that was clear back on May 25th.”  Chris’ Journal

“The following Wednesday we had an assembly where they honored us and gave us our trophies, along with our schools Baseball and Softball teams (who also took State). We also got a free dinner from the school, a plaque, and other things. And the picture of our team will be in the Alta High School halls as long as the school stands. Plus my name is engraved on both the Region trophy and State trophy. It is so awesome that I had a part in it.”  Chris’ Journal

“At the first of the season, I was the sixth man in a four man midfield. I played in 19 of 32 half and lettered, a feat only 13 of us did in the regular season. (the 11 starters and me and Andy Stephenson). But eventually I took over the 5th position in that 4-man rotation by beating the senior Andy Stephenson out and was always the first substitute to enter the game. In the first tournament game, I played about 3/4 of the game, and the same amount in the second game. I only played about 1/4 of the game in the final 2 games of the tournament, but that is more than any other substitute. I was happy with my playing time. And I lettered in every way possible. I played more than 16 halfs during the regular season, I played in a State Tournament game, and we won the State Championship.

Our Final Record for Varsity was 17 wins, 3 ties, and 0 losses. State Champions. Our Varsity goal ratio was 6 to 1. We scored 74 goals and our opponents scored 13 (4 were in one game versus Cottonwood, a total fluke.) I was the 5th man in the 4 man midfield rotation. I played in 26 of 40 halfs, in all but 4 games.

Total Alta combined JV and Varsity statistics were 31 wins, 0 losses, and 5 ties. Goal ratio of 7 to 1. We scored 142 goals and our opponents scored 21. 

We took State! We are the Champions! Alta is #1 - Repeat!”  Chris’ Journal

“After our state title my Junior year, we lost 10 players to graduation, with 8 of them being starters. So most people thought it would be a rebuilding year for us. But we knew we were a great team and we proved it on the field. I was picked to be a captain along with Darren Burrup, Gus Naylor, and DJ Lewis. We were the only seniors on the team. I started the whole season at center halfback with Todd Miller (one of the best players in the State). I loved it. We won our first 3 preseason games, but then we played Mountain View for our last preseason game. We were a much better team but they just hunkered down in their defensive half and got a lucky goal and ended up beating us 1-0. We had plenty of opportunities, including a penalty kick by Jeff Gillett, but we just couldn't score. This was a crushing defeat after never losing a game in either JV or Varsity the whole previous year. But we breezed through our region, beating everyone twice except for Brighton (who we beat once and tied once) and Skyline (who we tied twice).”  Chris’ Journal

“We went into the State Tournament playing well and playing confident. We beat Kearns in the inter-region game 2-1 and then moved on to the final eight tourney at Woods Cross High School. Despite the long drive, we had monster crowds at every game. It was rad. We came out against Roy in the first game and demolished them 3-0. It wasn’t even a contest. Then we played Highland in the semi-finals. They should have not even showed up. We humiliated them, winning 5-0.”  Chris’ Journal

“Then, I don’t know what happened. We got cocky, I guess, because of the way we breezed through the tournament without even having a tough game. So we didn’t prepare ourselves properly for the State Final against Viewmont. Viewmont, however, had an incredibly tough tournament beating Brighton and Skyline in close games decided at the end of regulation or in overtime. So they were ready. We came out playing so flat and so bad in the most important game of my life. Viewmont’s star player Nick Berry scored in the first 10 minutes and they scored again about midway through the half. It was our worst played half of the year. No one was playing well. At halftime, we got ourselves focused and came out ready. We totally dominated the second half, but we just couldn't convert our shots. We pounded the ball at the goal again and again, but we couldn't score. Matt Smith had 2 breakaways one on one against the goalie and missed them both. And then Todd Miller got a penalty kick. He was our best shooter, but it was a terrible shot. He missed it and the game turned back around in their favor when they received a penalty kick about a minute later. There made theirs, of course, and the game was over. Everyone on the field except for me kind of gave up during the last 10 minutes because I guess they knew they would be back. But I was graduating so I never quit. I did play well and got a lot of compliments. Grandpa Polson told me I played the best out of my whole team and both Hub and Matt told me how impressed they were. It still was a very nice season. We ended up with a record of 15 wins, 2 losses, and 3 ties. We took home the Region Championship trophy and the State second place trophy, both of which have my name on them as a Captain of the team. We also won the Bonneville pre-season tournament, and so the soccer trophy case that was completely bare before I put on the Varsity uniform had 5 trophies in it before I took the Varsity uniform off. So I am quite proud of my High School soccer career. And I will always cherish the memories I have from it.”  Chris’ Journal

“A final Alta soccer note, Darren and I were the only Seniors on our team who started on Varsity. The following year Alta had a great team with the 9 returning starters and Mike Morey who replaced Darren and John Plehn who took my spot. They won the State Championship, losing only one game all year to Skyline and only tying two games. There were 8 players who made the all-state team. They were awesome and fun to watch.”  Chris’ Journal

“After I graduated, I went to Westminster College. I chose this school in order to play soccer there, but after practicing with them in the summer, I decided it would be best if I didn’t commit so much time to soccer and try to earn some money and change some of the friends I was hanging around with in order to prepare for a mission. Instead I got on a Sparta team in the fall. It was a great team and I was the best player. We could compete with just about every team except the Sparta Premier, which had all those players I just named on it. It was a really fun season because I was the star and everything happened through me. I scored tons of goals and got tons of assists. Then this past spring, I played for a Mens Division team called Berlin. I was placed on the C team initially, but it wasn’t long before I was playing for the A and B teams as well. They all wanted me to play with them. I totally dominated in this league, too. I was the top goal and assist man on my team. One of our games, we won 8-4 and I scored 6 of our goals. It was great fun all season long. I played on it with Darren Burrup, my best friend, and we also coached a team of little boys. That was fun, too, but between all my soccer and work, my life was gone. The team we coached was an under 10 team with Landon Burrup, Joey Utley, and other kids on it. It was fun and something I might like to do later in my life.”  Chris’ Journal