PROVO — Not a lot was expected out of the Woods Cross boys soccer team after it finished fourth in Region 5. But come game time, the Wildcats are anything but a fourth-place team. After pulling an upset over Bonneville on Friday, Woods Cross eliminated Timpview 2-1 in overtime on Tuesday in the quarterfinals of the 4A state soccer tournament.
"On paper, we look like we are the underdog," Woods Cross junior Jake Wood said. "We all know we are not the underdog. We controlled our region for pretty much the whole entire season until the last couple of games when we were missing some starters. We're playing the best when it counts, and that's all that matters."
Woods Cross will play Springville in the semifinals on Thursday at Juan Diego High School. Getting to the semis took a little longer then the Wildcats had hoped after a dominating first half.
With the score tied at 1-1 at the end of regulation, Wood headed in a throw-in from Steve Van DeGraff in the final seconds of the first 10-minute overtime period to give the Wildcats the win.
"He was waiting for something to happen in the back," Woods Cross coach Kevin Rigby said. "The ball flicked back and he put it in. That was textbook."
Woods Cross controlled possession for most of the first half and took a 1-0 lead when Eric Callejas scored on a throw-in from Van DeGraff in the fifth minute. Following the throw-in, Callejas was standing 5 feet from the goal and used a strong second effort to get the ball past Timpview goalie Tyler Cloward.
Woods Cross had several other attempts in the first half to extend its lead, but Cloward made several saves.
Timpview opened the second half more aggressive and tied the game in the 66th minute when Alex Loveless crossed a beautiful cross pass to Jared Davis inside the right corner of the box. Davis took the pass and connected far post.
"It would have been nice to win it in regulation," Rigby said. "We might have let up, but we never gave up."