Scott Kaniewski

The Mountain Vista High School soccer team has plenty of youth.

But it was senior and captain Taylor Kemp who got the Golden Eagles going against Chaparral. Kemp struck a low free kick and bent it around the wall and into the lower left corner of the net as Mountain Vista rolled to a 4-1 win at Mountain Vista High School Sept. 11.

After that, it was the younger players who took over for the Golden Eagles (2-0 Continental League, 3-1 overall).

Sophomore Justin Miller came off the bench to score his first two varsity goals, and sophomore starting midfielder Matt Remeley added a penalty kick in a game that saw Chaparral (1-1, 3-3) get five yellow cards — one to coach Jim Hall — and a red card.

The Golden Eagles have 11 sophomores listed on their roster — seven of them started in the win.

“It’s a handful,” said Kemp about his younger teammates. “They’re hard workers and they love to play.”

The Golden Eagles outshot the Wolverines 19-8, controlling play and putting nine shots on goal.

“We’re going to be really, really young and small, but we’re going to be a lot of fun to watch,” said Golden Eagles coach Theresa Echtermeyer. “It was great to get a couple goals early and get everybody into the game.”

They found a lot of room down the left side of the field.

Already leading 1-0, both of Miller’s goals came from crosses from the left. The first one was a well-served ball from senior Jordan Grindeland. His left-footed cross came right to Miller, who redirected it into the lower right corner.

Sophomore T. Dia got the Golden Eagles’ third goal started when he made a great pass to himself around Chaparral defender Drew Myers. Dia regained possession and put the ball into the box where Miller headed it into the net.

“T was going down the flank and I thought I could just get in the middle there and get in position to score,” Miller said. “[Dia’s] really skilled and really fast. He’s one of our main targets.”

Miller had a couple of chances for a third goal. With the Chaparral goalie out of the net, Miller had a shot knocked away by Myers. Miller also hit a goal post in the second half.

“I was just hoping for that because I wanted to have my hat trick,” Miller said.

Vista sophomore goalie Trevor Obering stopped both shots he faced, while backup Austin Wilson allowed the lone Wolverines goal, a header by Alejandro Jaimes.

“We were real solid,” Kemp said. “Our defense is young but they’ve done real well. If we keep playing the way we are we’ll turn a lot of heads.”