As an athlete, coach, parent or fan, you experience a range of emotions participating in or watching sports. These emotions can change from game to game or even from moment to moment. High school sports are no exception, and the Murray girls soccer team knows all about the thrills of victory and the agony of defeat. 

The Spartans went from feeling elation to feeling the frustration of a season-ending loss in the matter of five days. 

Murray’s season ended Oct. 15 with a one-sided 5-0 loss at Mountain Crest in the second round of the Class 4A state tournament. The defeat left the Spartans below .500 for the season, finishing 8-9.  

Going into the contest, the Spartans knew they had a big hill to climb. 

Mountain Crest was the top seed in the tournament, while Murray was seeded 16th. Mountain Crest entered the contest with just one loss, a defeat at the hands of 6A foe Farmington back on Aug. 13. The Spartans fell behind 2-0 at halftime and couldn’t make up any ground in the second half. Mountain Crest tacked on three more goals to win convincingly. 

It was a stark contrast from the game before. 

In the first round on Oct. 10, Murray drew 17th-seeded Pine View in a home game. The evenly matched contest saw Murray storm out to an early 2-0 lead. However, Pine View scored twice in the second half and held the Spartans scoreless after the break. That sent the game into overtime where neither team scored. A shootout determines which team would have the right to face Mountain Crest in the next round. 

Murray dominated the penalty kicks, making four to Pine View’s one, sending the Spartans to round two. Murray’s first-half goals came from Preslee Stock and June Lever. 

The Spartans placed third in Region 10, going 6-5-1 in league play. Murray outscored its region opponents 24-14 and posted five shutouts on the season. Three of Murray’s region losses were by a single point, and the other two were by two goals. The Spartans’ best offensive day came at Cottonwood on Sept. 25 with a 6-0 victory. 

This season, Murray had 13 different players score at least one goal. Leading the balanced scoring effort was Stock, a junior forward, who had five goals on the season. Bailey Trujillo, only a freshman, had four goals and an assist this season. Two players—junior Elsie Demann and junior Bonnie Hendricksen—each had three goals. Junior Autumn Mead and freshman Lucy Vuyk each spent time in the net as the team’s goalies. 

The Spartans will return several experienced players in 2025, including a host of sophomores and freshmen who had playing time on the varsity and junior varsity levels. 

Murray will look to return to its winning ways next season. This year was the first time since 2014 that the team didn’t finish above .500 and the first time since 2013 that the Spartans had a below-.500 mark. The 2014 squad was 7-7, while Murray was 7-9 in 2013. λ