Broncos start girls soccer season on right foot

by Rhett Sifford
Sports Editor
The San Juan High School girls soccer team couldn’t have gotten a much better start to the season. They handily defeated the Emery Spartans 8-2 on Tuesday, August 4 in Blanding.
The Broncos opened with a four-goal first half and cruised to victory. Junior Ari Adams led the way with a very impressive four-goal outing.
With a big lead in the second half the team brought goalkeeper Colee Crofts out of the net to roam the field and she added two more goals.
Freshman Emrie Nielson netted a goal in the second half also, and junior Jaynie McNaughtan scored the final goal on a beautiful corner kick from Kloe Jones.
San Juan is coming off a 2025-26 season in which they registered their most season wins in program history with nine. The victory this past Tuesday gets them started off on the right foot in 2026-27.
New head coach Matthew McNaughtan said he and the entire coaching staff “couldn’t be more proud of the girls.
“We were so happy to work all 31 players into the varsity game,” he stated. “We had just finished an intensive soccer camp over the weekend and after the game we cheered, ‘thirty-one!’ as a celebration of a great literal entire team win.”
The Broncos stayed at home to host Draper APA in the second game of the season on Tuesday, August 11 after the San Juan Record print deadline.
The girls will hit the road for the first time this season to take on American Leadership Academy in Spanish Fork on Thursday, August 13. They’ll return home for a match against the tough 3A Manti Templars on Friday, August 14.