By Josh McFadden | [email protected]

With every high school team now making the state tournament in girls soccer, only one squad in each classification will end the season with a victory. 

That leaves a lot of teams facing disappointment. 

The Olympus girls team was one of the few teams in the state that ended the year with a win in 2020. The Titans won the Class 5A state championship with a 1-0 overtime win over Bonneville a year ago. This season, the Titans were among those that fell early in the tournament. 

The Titans went 11-8 overall and 7-5 in Region 6, placing third along with East. Olympus was five games behind region champion and rival Skyline. 

Olympus garnered the No. 17 seed in the 5A state tournament, barely missing the chance to host a home game in the first round. Instead, the Titans played on the road against the 16th-seeded team, Brighton, a fellow Region 6 squad. Olympus and Brighton split the regular-season series, though Brighton got the better of Olympus in the most recent matchup, a 2-1 win on Sept. 10. 

The Titans got revenge when it mattered most. 

In the Oct. 7 playoff game, Olympus prevailed 3-1, scoring two of those goals in the first half to build a two-score lead. Each team scored once in the second half, but the Titans wouldn’t let the Bengals get any closer. Kelly Bullock scored twice for Olympus, and Abigail Carter added a goal. Emma Neff, Hope Munson and Callie Droitsch each had an assist. 

The victory advanced the team to the second round where it had to face the top seed in the tournament: Skyline. The Eagles beat Olympus twice during the regular season and hadn’t lost all season. 

Playing at Skyline on Oct. 12, the second-round tournament game went much like the previous two meetings had gone. Skyline defeated Olympus 4-0 and 3-0 earlier in the season. Olympus’ 2021 season came to end in this postseason contest 4-0. Skyline scored three times in the first half and once in the second. 

Olympus collectively outscored its opponents this season 38-26, allowing just 1.4 goals a game. The Titans posted seven shutouts and had nine players score goals. Bullock was the offensive star for Olympus, as the senior poured in 14 goals and also dished out seven assists, both team highs. Neff had seven goals and three assists, while Munson had five goals and six assists. Avie Karren also had five goals. Droitsch was the team’s goalkeeper, anchoring the strong defense. 

Olympus had to replace a lot of key players from last season’s state title-winning team. Next year’s squad will also be without graduated players Bullock, Carter, Neff and Droitsch. The Titans will return Karren, a junior on this past season’s team. Also returning will be Emily Sjoblom, a sophomore who had three goals. 

Next year’s returning players, along with newcomers, will get back in action in August.