High school soccer: 2A, 3A soccer semis start today
The four remaining boys soccer teams in Class 3A and four remaining teams in Class 2A stand within touching distance of hoisting their classification's respective championship trophies this weekend. Yet all eight know that they'll have to get through what will be their two biggest games of the season before that can happen.
The action starts this afternoon inside Timpview High's stadium with three of the four semifinal contests in 2A and 3A (the other will be held today at ALA because of a scheduling conflict). Both championship games will be held Saturday at Timpview.
Here is a breakdown of the four semifinal games:
CLASS 3A
JUDGE vs. MORGAN (3 p.m., Timpview High): Second-ranked Judge, the highest-ranked team still alive in 3A, has already accomplished a lot during its first season under coach Kelly Terrill.
Two weeks ago, Judge clinched its first region championship since 2003 and last week clinched a spot in the 3A semifinals for the first time since 2002.
Make no mistake, however, about the Bulldogs. Though they're happy with what they've accomplished to this point, there's a whole lot more they'd like to get done.
Charlie Brennan has been the star of the show for Judge, and he's surrounded by a talented cast of co-stars.
Judge scraped past Ben Lomond in a shootout win in the opening round before recording a 2-0 win over Delta in the quarters.
When you look at how Morgan reached the semifinals, its path wasn't all that different.
The Trojans did beat Wasatch 2-0 in the first round, but the Wasps gave them everything they could handle. Then in the quarters, Morgan really hit its stride by dropping five second-half goals on Cedar en route to a 5-0 win.
Kyle Walker scored three of those goals, and the Bulldogs will have to be wary of his abilities.
UINTAH vs. PARK CITY (5 p.m., Timpview High): Obviously, Uintah's appearance in the second-to-last round of the 3A tournament is a huge surprise.
On the opening day of the 3A playoffs, the scrappy Utes beat No. 1 Logan on the ninth shooter in a shootout after holding Class 3A's big pre-tournament favorite to a 0-0 draw in regulation.
Uintah subsequently beat Hurricane in the quarters to book its semifinal place.
When you take a closer look at Uintah, however, it's not impossible to see why they're here. After all, the Utes beat Park City 5-3 back in March and were leading the Miners on the final day of the regular season by a goal when Park City scored twice in the last 10 minutes to come from behind.
Both results should leave Uintah brimming with confidence as its heads to face Park City for the third time this season. Third-ranked Park City, with all its soccer history in tote, is undoubtedly the favorite, but don't think that Uintah can't continue its improbable run, either.
Both teams feature prolific scorers, as Uintah's Derek Bunderson leads Class 3A with 21 goals, while Austen Stevens has found the back of the net 14 times for Park City.
Defender Daniel Gurr has been outstanding in two playoff games to help compliment Bunderson, and a host of talented stars surround Stevens.
CLASS 2A
ALA vs. ROWLAND HALL (4 p.m., ALA): All four semifinalists in Class 2A are from Region 14, and there will plenty of intrigue when second-seeded Rowland Hall tussles with third-seeded ALA.
Back in the preseason, the consensus amongst most people was that Class 2A would be a two-horse race between Rowland Hall and St. Joseph. Those two tangled with one another in the semifinals last year and were clearly better than everybody else besides eventual champion Waterford.
Flash forward to the regular season, and No. 2 ALA netted home wins over both top-ranked Rowland Hall and No. 3 St. Joseph, leaving many to wonder if they shouldn't be considered as a front-runner with the other two.
Today's semifinal will provide the answer to that question.
The Eagles are a bruising, athletic team, and they'll have home-field advantage by virtue of the fact that Rowland Hall needed to reschedule because six of their starters are scheduled to participate in AP testing this morning.
Rowland Hall coach Bobby Kennedy and St. Joseph coach Derek Tate haven't tried to hide the fact that they hope to face one another in the state title game, and this would appear to be the last significant obstacle.
SOUTH SUMMIT vs. ST. JOSEPH (1 p.m., Timpview High): It's not everyday that a 4-13 team advances to the semifinals in any sport, but that's exactly the position South Summit finds itself in.
After enduring many lumps during the regular season, South Summit hit its stride at exactly the right time and netted road playoff wins over Region 17 champ Mount Vernon and Region 14 No. 4 seed Wasatch Academy to advance to the semis.
There's no shortage of people who are excited to see the Wildcats have success.
"I'm happy for South Summit because they've kind of paid their dues," said Rowland Hall coach Bobby Kennedy.
Whether South Summit can somehow continue its magical run, however, remains to be seen. The Wildcats did beat St. Joseph 1-0 early in the season when St. Joseph was dealing with a rash of injuries, but the Jayhawks came back to defeat South Summit 5-0 later in the regular season.
E-mail: drasmussen@desnews.com
Recent comments
Park City will and have already proven they can bounce back from...
Anon | May 10, 2008 at 1:40 p.m.
After today, PC won't be in, so this little tiff can just stop...
KG | May 9, 2008 at 10:37 a.m.
Rankings and seedings are two different things.
re: Anony | May 9, 2008 at 10:07 a.m.
