PROVO — Clinging to a one-goal advantage over visiting rival Provo midway through the first half of Tuesday night's Region 7 clash, the Timpview boys soccer team found itself on its heels.
The Bulldogs pushed forward, seeking the equalizer, and got some great opportunities.
But Thunderbird senior keeper Miguel Villa proved to be up to every challenge during the barrage, and that gave his squad time to regain its composure and get the offense rolling. Timpview found the touch it needed to get the ball in the net and pulled away to get the 9-2 victory over the Bulldogs.
"Provo came out like a ball of fire," said Thunderbird head coach Rob Dahl. "They probably deserved a couple of goals, but Miguel Villa was able to keep them out. After that, we were able to wear them down."
The turning point in the contest came in a one-minute span late in the first half. Down by one, Bulldog forward Salvador Martinez blasted nearly a perfect shot from 25 yards out, but Villa managed to get just enough of the ball to push it up and off the crossbar to keep Timpview in front.
The T-Birds counterattacked, and although the Provo keeper was able to knock down a blast from distance, Timpview senior Austin Saguibo won the race to the rebound and put it away to double the home team's advantage.
"Soccer can be a funny sport," said Bulldog head coach Cesar Cardoso.
"They got three or four shots in the first half, while we had eight to 10, but we hit the post and they had the 2-0 lead."
The Thunderbirds quickly began widen the gap after the break, led by senior forward Russel Doria's playmaking and senior forward Karson Payton's finishing. Payton scored four goals in a 17-minute span to put the game out of reach.
"There is a reason many colleges want Karson Payton to play for them," Dahl said. "He's something special. I know Russel Doria wanted to get a goal, but he set up five of them just with his ability to get the ball in the right place."
Firmly in control, the home team was able to relax while Provo tried to get things going. The Bulldogs managed to score twice, but Timpview added three more goals. to keep their comfortable lead.
"I thought we showed some fight at the end," Cardoso said. "But Timpview deserves what it got tonight. For most of the game, they were much better than we were. We've just got to move on and see how we can make things work."
Dahl said that it was good to see his full lineup on the field performing as well as it has all year.
"We were creative on the ball, we've been working on finishing, and I think that showed with nine goals," he explained. "We've also been working on defense on containing and pushing things to the side so we could get organized. I thought our defense did a good job keeping their attack at bay."
Timpview (7-2-0, 4-2-0) will try to keep rolling when it hosts Timpanogos on Thursday in a 7 p.m. game, while Provo (4-4-2, 1-4-1) looks to get back on track at Mountain View on Thursday afternoon at 3:30 p.m.