By Catherine Garrett | [email protected]

The Juan Diego Catholic High School girls soccer program graduated 14 seniors from last year’s squad that lost in the 3A state quarterfinals to state runner-up Morgan. So, it will be a bit of a rebuild this season and head coach Joe Baca said he will be looking to fill several roles among the 26 girls on the roster.

“We have seven returners which gives us a strong core of players who understand our coaching philosophy. We will be competitive, but our bench will need to step up and help us provide our starters this year,” he said. “Our freshman class has a few strong athletes and we picked up a couple of out-of-state players in Campbell Gentry from Idaho and Hayden and Addison Pettit from California.

Baca said he and his coaching staff will determine the four new starters from the initial preseason games to complete his starting lineup. “Then, we will use the regular season to prepare to make a run in the playoffs,” he said.

Juan Diego began the season with a 3-0 loss to Murray Aug. 4 before a 2-1 overtime win against Tooele Aug. 5. The teams were tied at 1-all at halftime with the Soaring Eagle’s goal netted by junior Hope Lowery. The game-winner was put in by junior Hailey Cutler to give Juan Diego its first win on the year. Junior Jada Mirable and freshman Hayden Pettit assisted on the game’s goals.

Other preseason matchups have included a 2-1 loss to Canyon View Aug. 6 and a 4-1 loss to Bountiful Aug. 11.

“The first games we have played have been learning opportunities for the entire team,” Baca said. “This team is special. We are using the preseason games to work out our lineup. If we win a couple in the process, great!”

The team is also scheduled to face Herriman and second-ranked Morgan before region home-and-away matchups with Providence Hall, Summit Academy, Judge Memorial and American Leadership along with games against Real Salt Lake and Waterford.

Also on the Soaring Eagle squad this season are seniors Abbie Alamilla, Lily Edwards, Hailey Mezenen and Drea Murdock; juniors Elly Blair, Phuonganh Bui, Maddie Chiazzese, Kate DiGiandomenico, Kennedy Jones, Peyten Montoya and Morgan Mulcahy; sophomores Elly Blair, Campbell Gentry, Alison Green, Abby Harbison, Clarissa Sanchez and Denver Whaley; and freshmen Piper Fennell, Makena Gardner, Alex Pepi, Addison Pettit, Adri Priskos and Tessa Shuman.

Baca will again be assisted on the coaching staff by Joe Alamilla, Troy Stroud and Whitney Shuman.

“It will be a great year,” Baca said. “We’re looking forward to it.”