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Draper Journal

Juan Diego soccer hoping to finish strong

May 08, 2019 03:44PM ● By Catherine Garrett

The Juan Diego Catholic High School soccer team have struggled through a bit of a rebuilding year after a state semifinal appearance last season with hopes of still making the postseason. (Photo courtesy Bob McLellan, ShootingStar Photography)

By Catherine Garrett | [email protected]

Three key players from last year’s 4A state semifinalist team returned for Juan Diego this year and have been providing leadership on and off the field so far this season. Senior left back Seth Blasingim is the squad’s leading scorer with five goals so far this year while senior center Brayden Reid has added three to also be among the team’s offensive leaders. “We have pushed the team very hard as leaders to bring high performance and high quality every single game,” Reid said.

Senior right wing Connor Kimball is also back for the Soaring Eagles, who have a 3-6-1 overall record this season and a 2-4-1 Region 11 mark. 

“This year, we have basically a brand new varsity team with losing 13 varsity players last year,” Blasingim said. “I am very proud of my teammates who have all stepped up to the challenge. We have made all the games a battle for every team that has played us.”

The team’s wins so far this season have been against Tooele 5-0 March 20 — where Blasingim scored four goals — and against Ben Lomond 4-1 April 5 and Tooele 2-1 April 13. Juan Diego tied Ogden 3-3 March 22 and three of the squad’s losses have been by one goal.

“We have had a little bit of a rocky season with ups and downs,” head coach Daniel Cavar said. “Brayden and Seth have been playing well and helping the boys take the game to the next stage. 

Reid, who will play next year for Carroll College, echoed his coach’s feelings on the team’s record. “We have put ourselves in a tough position for the state tournament but I think we will make it and do very well,” he said. “We need to focus on execution and touches in the final third of the field.”

Blasingim, who has a scholarship for the fall at Curry College, is encouraged by the team’s play of late heading into the final stretch of the season. “We have had some great wins and momentum recently, so I think the focus for the rest of the season is to keep the level of play and intensity up to try and get more results,” he said.

Juan Diego plays Ogden, Bonneville and Park City to close out the regular season.

Also on the JDCHS squad are Jaron Adams, Jayce Clarke, Connor Cutshall, Ishan Dhawan, John Donohoe, Haydn Duncan, Michael Durazo, John Fivaz, John Flanagan, Leo Flores, Juan Freguso, Keegan Gilbert, Brenden Gutierrez, Mason Harris, Aidan Hodlmair, Brock Jones, Aaron Kolff, Max Merhi, Antonio Ortega, Jeremy Ortega, Lucas Ortiz, Matthew Osmundson, Kevin Pelavo, Anthony Ramirez, Elias Ramirez, Israel Rodriguez, Dylan Strydom, Jose Villasenor, Tyler Young and Gexia Yu.

Cavar is being assisted by Joe Baca and Alex Saunders on the coaching staff this season.

“This is a very strong and technical group of players,” Cavar said. “We want to finish strong and focus game by game. It will be very interesting to see how they close the season out.”