Pleasant Grove caught a lucky break this year with a star moving into its boundaries. Indee Morris grew up in Pleasant Grove, but her family moved to Florida for a few years.
Luckily for the Vikings, she’s back and has already put on a show. The junior is the team’s leading scorer with six goals so far this season.
Morris continued her early-season streak and scored a pair of goals Tuesday evening in a 2-0 road win over Timpanogos.
“She has been a force to be reckoned with for defenses,” said Pleasant Grove head coach Matt Embley. “She’s double, triple-teamed, which has allowed her to find the slots for us to be able to get in. It’s amazing; every time she gets the ball, you think the ball’s going in the back of the net. So it’s fun to watch.”
While there were a lot of positives for Pleasant Grove, it still played like a team that’s early in its season.
The Vikings didn’t fall into the trap of getting down early; instead, they pushed the pace early and won a pair of corner kicks within the first five minutes of the game. While they failed to capitalize, it was a good sign for Embley.
“We have really focused on when we get the ball deep on a corner kick, especially when we have numbers in the box, that we have runners in the box and we put our body on the line,” Embley said.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t get either one of those. But even if you don’t score those, you create energy, and you create that positivity to want to go and do it again.”
Pleasant Grove finally broke through in the 16th minute as Morris broke away from the defense and found the back of the net.
While it held the 1-0 lead into halftime, it was lucky not to be tied with Timpanogos.
The Timberwolves had multiple strong chances at scoring. A shot from Maddi Searle from about 30 yards out hit the top crossbar. Another chance came up short when Samantha Young caught the Pleasant Grove keeper out too far and just missed a chip shot for the equalizer.
Similar attempts were just wide in the second half, and while the Viking defense had its mistakes, they also showed their potential. Especially Vikings’ keeper Savanna Facer, who had two saves early in the first half to keep the clean sheet.
Meanwhile, Morris pushed the lead to 2-0 with a goal in the 67th minute. It was her sixth goal of the year, which puts her on the early statewide leading scorer leaderboard.
“I love my team,” said Morris. “It’s probably the best high school team I’ve seen. We’re such a good family, and we’re very connected. We just support each other. Without them, I definitely wouldn’t have scored my goals.”
Pleasant Grove improves its record to 4-0 and has one last non-region game against Layton on Thursday. The Vikings open region play against Springville on Aug. 20.
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