High school soccer: Wasatch survives Mountain View comeback

The two halves of Tuesday’s barn burner between the Wasatch Wasps and Mountain View Bruins could not have looked more different.

Each team had dominant stretches, but in the end, Wasatch won on penalty kicks to keep its Region 8 title hopes alive.

After the first half, it looked like Wasatch was on its way to a steamroll victory. It had just spent nearly the entire opening 40 minutes dominating the midfield.

Mountain View is a team that likes to build in the back and work it up the field. The Bruins rarely cleared the ball when awarded a goal kick. Instead, they passed it to a defender and worked it up the field that way.

Unfortunately for Mountain View, Wasatch was quick to intercept nearly every pass and fight for every 50/50 ball.

The Wasps were rewarded as soon as the fifth minute. Kennedi Hunt had the ball wide, and placed a cross perfectly for Kate Sargent to finish it.

They continued to dominate possession of the ball and found the back of the net again with just 17 seconds left in the half.

Wasatch’s Savanna Hulme assisted Addie Nygren for the 2-0 score.

“The first half was some of the best soccer we played, and we were really connecting on offense,” said Wasatch coach Tara Lundberg. “Our midfield was just putting it together. We were staying with our marks way better. We learned from the first time we played them and shut them down from their build-up out of the back.

“We were dangerous. We were outplaying them. It was awesome.”

Despite the dominance, the game completely flipped in the second half.

Mountain View’s vision from the first half finally became clear as they made much better passes and successfully worked the ball through the midfield. Then, the speed of the Bruins’ forwards shone.

Just like Wasatch did in the first half, Mountain View scored just three minutes into the half as Eden Peterson outran the defenders on a through-ball and finished it to cut the lead to 2-1.

Then the Bruins put pressure back on the Wasps when they scored again in the 60th minute. Peterson took a free kick and found Leah Olsen for the equalizer.

Wasatch had a few chances to get the go-ahead goal, but twice its shot bounced off the crossbar.

“I think (Mountain View) stepped it up and were playing better,” Lundberg said. “I think we got a little bit frantic, but we calmed it down. We had opportunities. We hit the post twice in the second half. We could have put that away at different times, but didn’t.”

Then, things went from bad to disastrous as Olsen got fouled on a breakaway and was awarded a penalty kick.

With just under five minutes left, the biggest game of the season was in keeper Jade Pearson‘s hands.

The shot was on frame, and Pearson dove on it to keep the Wasatch’s game alive.

“It was stressful because last time it happened, I got scored on,” said Pearson. “I can’t say any words about it. It’s so amazing, just the feeling of people being there and cheering me on after. It felt really great.”

The save effectively forced overtime, where neither team scored the golden goal and penalty kicks loomed.

While it was the Bruins’ first time going to PKs this year, Wasatch had been here just two weeks ago. In that game, the Wasps slipped past Orem in a 4-3 shootout in.

“I feel like the conversation was mostly just like, ‘We’ve been here before. We can do this. Rely on your skills,'” Lundberg said.

The shootout was as close as regulation. With a 4-4 tie, and just one kick left, all Wasatch had to do was put it in for the win.

However, Bruins’ keeper London Becker made the save to keep the shootout going. But after another Mountain View miss, Annie Wright‘s goal broke the tie and Wasatch won the shootout 5-4.

It was a refreshing win for Wasatch, especially fresh off a loss to Provo in its last game, where it allowed the Bulldogs a second-half comeback.

“It’s huge,” said Lundberg. “We’ve been having a great season. We were on a winning streak, but had a bad game and a bad second half against Provo. For them to come back and bounce back, it says a lot about them and their character as players.”

It was a crucial win for Wasatch’s Region 8 title hopes. The Wasps now sit tied for second in the region with Mountain View, and both teams are a game behind Timpanogos, who now holds the top spot.