The No. 1 seed Fossil Ridge girls soccer team lived up to their hype, defeating No. 32 Monarch with a 10-0 mercy rule in the first round.

Things looked shaky early, as some rain threw the Sabercats out of rhythm during the first 20 minutes. But Fossil responded with three goals late in the half to take that lead into halftime. The Sabercats could tell they weren’t playing up to their potential, making several changes after 40 minutes.

“Teagan [Myers] gave us a pep talk at halftime,” said senior Kylie Ballek. “Saying to step it up, literally saying take out their will to play soccer.”

The Sabercats took that message to heart, with three more goals in the first ten minutes. Afterwards Fossil added four more goals to end the game 10 minutes early. 

Ballek and Amy Smith carried over their prolific scoring seasons, each totaling a hat trick in the ten goal win.

But perhaps the biggest moment came independent of the scoring, as junior Allie Boldt made her first appearance all season. Boldt hasn’t played due to a plethora of leg injuries, mainly a dislocated patella.

“Obviously when you get injured you don’t want to have it happen again, so it’s pretty scary,” Boldt said. “But once you get back to that first game, first practice, you have to build that mental strength.”

Boldt hopes to balance her recovery while also contributing to a deep playoff run for the Sabercats. Fossil knows that these games will continually get tougher, as they will have to play airtight down the stretch.

“We just have to come out stronger and be more consistent,” Ballek said. “We just have to play good throughout the whole game.”

Fossil will be back at home in a second round matchup in a rematch against No. 17 Rock Canyon on Friday, May 12.