The Heart Mountain U8 Blue soccer team fought hard and showed promise this spring season, finishing fourth in the Snickers Cup and posting a strong showing in the State Cup with a win over Rawlins.

Led by coaches Pat D’Alessandro and Chad Curtis, the U8 Blue included Gavin Marchant, Jersee Erickson, Tyler Cole, Christiano D’Alessandro, Connor Ferguson and Braeden Curtis.

Snickers Cup-Sheridan

Heart Mountain traveled to Sheridan May 4-5 for the Snickers Cup, finishing a respectable fourth. It was the first tournament of the spring and the team showed huge growth throughout the weekend. 

The first 15 minutes of the first game was against the eventual second place Worland squad, and opened some eyes as to the speed of play. But adjustments came quickly as Gavin Marchant began to exert stellar defense to kick start the offensive firepower of Erickson, Cole and Christiano D’Alessandro. 

Ferguson and Curtis contributed fancy footwork and slick passing to round out the attack. According to the coaching staff, the most exciting part of the weekend was during the third and final game of the round robin portion of the tournament. Heart Mountain needed to score one goal against a defensively tough team from Lander in order to obtain enough points to qualify for the third/fourth place game. While exerting pressure for the majority of the second half, the U8 Blue remained scoreless until the game’s final minute, when they found the back of the net and celebrated their entry into the Consolation Game.

State Cup-Casper

Heart Mountain ended its season at the State Cup in Casper May 25-26, highlighted by a win over Rawlins. In all, games were played against Rawlins, Worland, Lander and Green River, with the U8 Blue finishing 1-3.

Against Rawlins, Erickson was a “scoring machine,” according to the coaches. Curtis and Ferguson also recorded a goal and an assist each in the win.

In the final game of the tournament against Green River, it was Christiano D’Alessandro’s three unanswered goals in the second half that tied the game after Cole scored two goals in the first half to keep the Heart Mountain squad in the contest. Unfortunately, Green River broke the tie late in the game to take the match. 

Marchant provided stellar defense throughout the entire tournament and was even moved up to the forward position at times to take advantage of his strong leg. Both Marchant and Cole placed balls throughout the tournament into prime scoring position off of the U8 Blue corner kicks.