Here’s a recap of Tuesday’s 5A girls soccer semifinals held at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman, with No. 4 seed Brighton and No. 3 Olympus prevailing to advance to Friday’s final at 4 p.m.
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Brighton 2, Bountiful 1
All the hard work Brighton put in over 75 minutes of Tuesday’s semifinal evaporated in seconds when Bountiful star Myka Page scored a laser on a tight angle with just five minutes to go in regulation.
It had been defensive all afternoon, and Brighton’s one-goal lead seemed enough to put the defending 5A champs away. When Page scored, the wind came out of the sails.
However, Brighton quickly readjusted and took it to the RedHawks in overtime to advance to the 5A championship game on a golden goal in the second overtime period.
Page’s goal was her 30th of the season, but it wasn’t enough to break the Bengals.
“We know to bottle her up for a whole game is almost impossible,” said Brighton coach Sara Cowley. “I’m really proud of our response of not giving up. It took a second, but we got our momentum back. We kept attacking. We were creating good, quality chances all game and we knew if we just kept going, we could put one in.”
The first half was much different from the second. All year, Brighton has gotten an edge through its defense. Before Tuesday, it had given up only 13 goals all year.
Bountiful had some chances, the Brighton back line stood firm each time. Even when Bountiful’s Bella Morgan had a wide-open net after getting past the Brighton keeper, Saige Thurgood got in the net to head the ball away.
The main focus for the Brighton defense was to stop Page, and for 75 minutes it made good on that focus.
“We feel that our backline is best in the state,” Cowley said. “We just were patient in the game and we stayed patient, and the big word was discipline. We just wanted them to stay disciplined, do their job and stay together as a group.
“They have some tough strikers to defend. Myka Page is world-class. We knew we had to stop her today and I’m really proud of them for staying with it.”
Things changed drastically for Brighton in the second half as its offense really got going. The Bengals kept getting through the Bountiful back line, but missed multiple chances by shooting it wide.
One chance came midway through the second half when Natalia Shepherd controlled the ball on a wide-open opportunity, but shot wide.
When Shepherd got another chance just minutes later, she wasn’t going to let it slip by. She took the ball away from a Bountiful defender and scored the first goal of the game.
“I felt like this is the moment we’ve been training for,” said Shepherd. “There are so many times where I’ve had so much practice shooting, and our team, we’ve had such good culture. I felt like I owed this to my team.”
Still, it went down to the wire after Page’s equalizer to send it to overtime. Bountiful had all the momentum and Brighton just wrestled it away.
Then, Brighton won it with some skill and a little luck in the second overtime period. It had gone back and forth, both keepers making diving saves to keep their respective teams alive.
However, the Bengals’ Jackie Scott stepped up to launch a corner kick. Scott placed it perfectly in front of the net, off a Bountiful defender and in.
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The goal gives Brighton the chance to win its first state championship since 2013.
“We’re hungry,” Cowley said. “I feel like we have a group that’s hungry to get it done. They also have put in the work. It’s actually a group that is very special with the amount of work rate they put in, how they treat each other.
“They love each other. So I feel like we’re poised and we’re ready.”
Olympus 3, Maple Mountain 0
With how Olympus played in Tuesday’s semifinal against Maple Mountain, nobody could get in its way en route to a state championship appearance.
It was dominant from start to finish, as the Titans rolled over Maple Mountain for a 3-0 victory. All three of Olympus’ goals were scored in the first half, and McCoy Cavazos got it started early with a goal in the 10th minute.
“We’ve been training for the last two weeks on offense, and the training has been amazing,” said Olympus head coach Jamie Evans. “To see them come out today and put it into practice and put it on the field and put three goals in the back of the net in the first half was — it’s just credit to all their hard work on the training ground.”
All year, Olympus has scored by committee. Twelve different Titans have scored at least once and eight have scored three or more goals this year.
Its top two goal scorers, Keira Bradley and Annika Sperry, both got involved Tuesday with a goal each. They co-lead Olympus with nine goals apiece.
Bradley also facilitates well for the Titans and has nine assists on the year.
The focus on getting the team involved in scoring, rather than just a few goals, is a strength for Olympus and allows it to use its depth to its advantage.
“We can’t win a game with just one person. We have to win it as a team,” said Bradley. “So, that’s what we tell every single one of our players, and that’s how we go out and play.
“When we were starting the first half, we really wanted to (care). We wanted to win state and we didn’t want to get backed down. We came out and scored those bangers, and I’m just proud of my team for doing that.”
By the time the 27th minute rolled around, the game was out of reach with a 3-0 Olympus lead.
Maple Mountain had a few chances in the second half, including one that bounced off the left post, but it never broke through the stout Olympus defense.
Titans keeper Maddie Sharp earned her fifth shutout of the season in the semifinal win.
“Our defense has been a standout for us all year,” said Evans. “So proud of them for showing up today like they’ve shown up all season.”
Friday’s championship game between Olympus and Brighton has the potential to be heated and fierce. The two Region 6 foes traded 2-1 wins in the regular season.
“There’s always a bit of emotion when we play Brighton,” said Evans. “Brighton’s a great team, and we know that. There’s respect between the girls, the coaches across the board. It’s so exciting when we get an opportunity to play Brighton in a big game because we know it’s going to be a good game and we know we’re both going to compete.”