HIGHLAND — Roy coach Dave Sanders has been waiting all year to see what he saw on Friday. After finishing fourth in Region 4 with a 4-5-1 mark, the Roy boys soccer team showed Lone Peak why it is the defending 4A champion by upsetting the Knights 4-3 in a shootout after two scoreless overtimes with the score tied at one.
"This is the Roy High team I've known all year," Sanders said. "They are a mental team. They didn't care about region. This game they cared about. I tore my hair out during region. Today they worked for 80 minutes."
Sanders said this was only the second full game his team has played all year. The first was a 4-0 win over Logan.
"Sometimes after we score we let down," Roy's Mike Kaiser said. "Today we didn't drop our heads after they scored."
In the shootout, both teams missed their first kicks. Roy's Aagan Brown's opening shot bounced off the left cross bar and Lone Peak's Kaleb Thompson's shot was stopped by Roy goalie Casey Warren.
Roy's Davis Gentry, Jess Patterson and Colin Larsen connected on the next three kicks. But each time Roy scored, Lone Peak answered.
But the final PK ended up being the end of Lone Peak's season. Kaiser connected on his shot into the right corner and Lone Peak's Blaine Hale's shot sailed off to the left post to give Roy the first-round win.
"This feels real good," Kaiser said. "Coming into this we knew we were an underdog but the ball just hasn't bounced our way. We knew that some time or another we would get a couple of breaks. It all came together today."
Lone Peak didn't make things easy for Roy, though. Lone Peak's back line once again played solid defense and didn't allow anything easy into the goal. Lone Peak's problem came on the offensive end.
All year the Knights have struggled to score goals. In eight Region 7 games, they won five of them 1-0.
The Knights struck first and led 1-0 when Clint Burgess headed in a corner kick from Mike Wilson in the 32nd minute.
Roy's Kyle Carpenter knotted the game at one in the 50th minute when he flicked a kick high above Lone Peak goalie Taylor Payne inside the box.
"Only one goal came back to bite us," Lone Peak coach Jose Marzan said.
"I thought that was enough but when they tied the game I thought, 'I don't know if we can do it.' We just can't score. We played great. Both teams wanted it but like their coach said they are not just a fourth-place team."
Roy has been a thorn in Lone Peak's side in the past. The Royals have eliminated Lone Peak from the state tournament three of the last four years.
4A PLAYOFFS
PLEASANT GROVE 3, MOUNTAIN CREST 1: Vikings' Brett Waters, Jay Helquist and Kyle Conners each had goals as Pleasant Grove cruised past Mountain Crest in the first round 4A playoff game. Brian Hadfield scored the lone goal for the Mustangs in their loss.
BOUNTIFUL 6, PROVO 1: The Braves stormed to a 5-0 lead at halftime and Sam Berg completed the hat-trick in the second half to knock out the Bulldogs out of the playoffs. Doug McOmie, Dave Carroll and Josh Siddoway also added goals for the Braves.
SKY VIEW 2, MOUNTAIN VIEW 1: Bobcats' Kendon Knowles tied the match with a goal in the first half then assisted the game-winning goal to Brian Hebdon mid-way through the second half to upset the Bruins in the first round of the 4A playoffs.
OLYMPUS 1, SPRINGVILLE 1 (2OT) (SPRINGVILLE WINS SHOOTOUT 5-4): The Red Devils edged the Titans 5-4 in a shootout that went to the seventh kicker. Springville went ahead 1-0 in the first half, but Olympus tie it in the second half on a goal by Travis Heugly.
WOODS CROSS 1, BONNEVILLE 0:Drew Fisher's goal 10 minutes into the second half was all the Wildcats needed to knock off second-ranked Bonneville, which hadn't given up a goal in 10 straight games.
TIMPVIEW 2, EAST 1 (OT): Timpview's Rob Brinton scored off a throw-in by John Kemp with less than two minutes remaining in the first overtime to edge East. Lance Smith also scored for the Thunderbirds.