The kids were playing real hard, and they stepped up even harder I thought. – Alta coach Lee Mitchell
DRAPER — Even with just 10 girls, Alta still dominates the soccer field.
The defending state champion Hawks defeated Northridge 3-1 in the 5A semifinals on Tuesday afternoon despite losing a player to a red card in just the 29th minute.
"I didn't like it, but we have to go with that," Alta coach Lee Mitchell said of the penalty in which junior midfielder Carly Dehlin was ejected for intentionally throwing the ball at an opposing player.
Alta played the rest of the game down a player, and Dehlin will not play in the championship game on Friday.
"We still continued to play our game," Mitchell said of the 10-on-11 lineup. "The kids were playing real hard, and they stepped up even harder I thought."
Madie Lyons ignited the Hawks' offense when she scored off a free kick in the 16th minute.
"That was a beautiful goal," teammate Bizzy Phillips said of Lyons' strike. "She is so good at those free kicks. Syd (Fitzpatrick) and I will take them for fun at practice, but in the games, Madie is always the one that will finish them. We can always rely on her."
Just before halftime, Phillips got into the action, scoring her 21st goal of the season and giving Alta its second of the day.
The junior midfielder collected a lob down the center of the field and sent it past a charging Northridge goalkeeper.
"She works harder than anybody out there," Mitchell said of Phillips, agreeing when asked if she is the team's Energizer Bunny. "Yep, that's exactly what she is. She leads by her example. I'm real proud of her."
Phillips added to her total once more with a powerful shot from the top of the box in the 53rd minute, and tried to notch the hat trick in the final minutes of the game.
"I was just trying to get on the corner and I was like, 'oh maybe …' and then I hit the crossbar two times," she said. "That's OK, though. As long as we win, I don't even care who scores. Hash (goalkeeper Elyssa Hashimoto) could score and I would be happy."
Northridge senior Dusty Taylor broke up the shutout in the 67th minute when she headed a ball past Hashimoto for the Knights' only goal.
Despite the loss, Knight goalkeeper Josie Manwill played fantastic in the net. Just a sophomore, Manwill made multiple diving saves and kept Alta from breaking the game open.
"She had a good game, she's a good keeper," Mitchell said. "She was under fire from the get-go, and I thought she played well."
Up next, the Hawks face Viewmont in the championship game in a rematch of last year's title match that Alta won 1-0. The Vikings defeated Davis, 2-1, in double overtime in the other 5A semifinal on Tuesday.
Email: sthomas@desnews.com