4A, 3A, 2A soccer semifinals: Every winner that punched ticket to Friday's championship

HERRIMAN — Stay the course and play fearless.

Morgan High's game plan wasn't perfect in the Trojans' 3A state semifinal Wednesday at Zions Bank Stadium.

But in those two ways, against a region rival that had already defeated Morgan twice by a combined three goals, the Trojans were perfectly perfect.

Sam Edwards converted the match-sealing penalty kick, and senior Garrett Henderson made two saves during the shootout to help Morgan advance to the 3A state championship on penalty kicks 5-4, after a 1-1 draw against top-seeded Ogden.

Jett Beckstrom scored the lone goal in regulation, notching his team-best 13th goal of the season for the Trojans (11-6).

But before that, fourth-seeded Morgan had to rally. And even in the shootout, Morgan gave up an early 3-1 advantage before Ogden tied the round and the Trojans held on in extra kicks.

"Our boys just kept their heads in it," Morgan coach Seth Wallace said. "We've been through some really tough, heartbreaking losses. Being on the other side of that is nothing new for us; we know what it's like. We've talked all year about being fearless, and not being afraid of the moment. One of those moments could be losing the big game, but you just come out and play with no fear. I think our boys were perfect in that extra time and the shootout."

Boston Rodriguez gave Ogden (13-2) a 1-0 advantage with a free kick just over 10 minutes into the match that caromed off a number of bodies in the box, and the Tigers' defense made the edge hold up through halftime.

But Beckstrom equalized for Morgan midway through the second half, forcing extra time with the junior's team-high 18th goal of the year.

"Lincoln (Barnes, Ogden defender) had me on lockdown the whole game," Beckstrom said. "I'm kind of small — I've got to hit the gym a little bit — but I just got in front of him, took the ball, took a shot that the keeper got an amazing save on. And then I was right in front of it for the rebound to put that thing in and do it for my teammates.

"I had to throw my body at it a little bit," he added. "But when you have a great team like this, you'd do anything for them."

The two sides played to a stalemate the rest of the way, as well as through two scoreless extra periods that included Henderson coming up nails on an on-rushing counter attack to prevent a goal.

That set up penalty kicks, and Morgan's confidence in its keeper was buoyed by an 3-1 advantage after Ty Warner, Rory Williams and Carter Hale each converted the first three kicks from the spot and Henderson saved Ogden's second attempt.

"Coincidentally, we've been practicing PKs because we knew it could come down to this," Beckstrom said. "So we had our PK takers lined up — I was the seventh shooter, so I didn't get to shoot. But we just had confidence and put those things in the back of the net.

"It was exhilarating, to be honest," he added. "Anything could happen; there's a lot of trust in your teammates, and the pressure is so high. It's an amazing feeling, but what makes it even better is when you put that thing in the back of the net and we have an amazing keeper like Garrett Henderson who makes those saves."

But the Tigers came back, pulling back penalties through Barnes, Brigham Aardema, Ben Points and Gerardo Esquievel to force an extra set of kicks.

But Henderson pushed Ogden's final attempt into the crossbar, helping the Trojans advance to their second championship final in three years.

The Trojans will face second-seeded Juan Diego at 4 p.m. MDT Friday at America First Field.

Juan Diego eyes first championship since 2016

At Zions Bank Stadium, James Fitzpatrick and Daniel Gutierrez each scored a goal to lead Juan Diego back to the state championship for the first time since making consecutive finals in 2018.

Fitzpatrick gave the Soaring Eagle (16-1) a lead in the 14th minute, finishing off a pass from Jacob Alvarez to go up 1-0.

Daniel Gutierrez doubled the advantage about 10 minutes later, and Juan Diego took a 2-0 edge into halftime before seeing out the second-half shutout.

Second-half Jayhawks catch fire in 2A semifinal

At Zions Bank Stadium, Daniel Filho had a hat trick, and St. Joseph scored five second-half goals in a shutout of American Heritage in a 2A semifinal on Wednesday afternoon.

Carlos Garcia added a goal and an assist for the top-seeded Jayhawks (11-1), and Ricardo Aparicio also scored.

St. Joseph will advance to face No. 2-seeded Maeser Prep at 1 p.m. MDT Friday at America First Field.

Simmons' hat trick paces Maeser to rout

Aidan Simmons tallied three goals as Maeser Prep poured in four goals in each half en route to an 8-1 rout of Waterford in the other 2A semifinal.

Tristan Brockbank added two goals for the Lions (16-1), who got a goal each from Nate Bowler, Isaac Johnson and Landon Call.

Will Marshall scored to pull the Ravens within 4-1 at halftime before the second-half deluge continued.

Pair of first-half goals launch Green Canyon to breakthrough

At Zions Bank Stadium, Colby Knight scored the opening goal just over 20 minutes into the match, and Brayden Jensen followed moments later to help Green Canyon advance to its first-ever state championship final with a 2-0 win over Dixie.

Jensen and Knight scored less than five minutes apart midway through the first half, turning a 0-0 stalemate into the Wolves' 2-0 halftime lead in a flash. Jovanni Torres added an assist during the run.

The Wolves advanced to the championship game for the first time in program history, having never advanced past the state quarterfinals since the school's founding in 2017-18.

In fact, in Green Canyon's brief history in soccer, only one girls' team had ever advanced to a semifinal prior to this season.

Make it two now — and still with a chance for more.

"It's a big deal, not just for these boys knowing that our area isn't just about Ridgeline or Mountain Crest. These guys can break through, too," said Green Canyon coach Kirt Sadler, who also coached the girls during that semifinal run. "These guys are good enough, and they have the talent."

The Wolves will face Cache Valley rival Mountain Crest in the 4A championship match Friday at 7 p.m. MDT at America First Field in Sandy.

Mountain Crest rallies to knock off defending 4A champs

At Zions Bank Stadium, Samuel Hunt, Michael Hale and Dallin Anderson each scored a goal as sixth-seeded Mountain Crest rallied from a 1-0 first-half deficit to upset defending 4A champion Crimson Cliffs.

Camden Squires opened the scoring about 10 minutes into the match for Crimson Cliffs. But the Mustangs from St. George equalized just before halftime to reset the match before netting two in a second-half shutout.

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