MURRAY — It looked like a sibling rivalry. Chippy is an understatement — yellow cards, recalled red cards (yes, it was that chaotic of a game) and all-out scrums for the ball. Murray and Timpanogos left everything on the line in the quarterfinals of the 4A boys' soccer tournament.

In a wild finish that featured nearly seven minutes of stoppage time, the Spartans overcame an early deficit and withheld a late-game attack to advance to the semifinals against Orem with the 2-1 victory at Murray Park on Friday.

"How long was it? Yeah, I just played to the end," said Murray keeper Spencer Critchfield when asked if that was the longest stoppage time he's been a part of. "It feels great (to make it to the semifinals). The last two years I was the JV keeper but this year I was lucky enough to be varsity. It feels good this time."

The Timberwolves tasted the back of the net first midway through the opening half. Austin Buxton crept past the Murray defensive front and chipped in the goal. It was Buxton's 18th netter of the year.

"At the first, we came out really hard but we didn't put any of our chances away," said Critchfield after trailing early. "Then we settled down a little bit and played our game."

The Spartans, after the wake-up call, came to life. Steadily the Region 7 champs reversed the field and penetrated deep into Timpanogos territory, allowing Jared Jess a penalty kick opportunity.

Jess made the most of the free shot — feinting to the left before firing a bullet into the right corner of the net to end the half at 1-1.

The teams exchanged blows, literally and figuratively. Altercations including shoving and multiple cards accessed plagued the second half.

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Murray finally captured its first lead of the game when Keegan Summers connected on a well-placed header that ultimately proved to be the deciding factor.

Timpanogos didn't pull any white flags. The T-Wolves, with the season on the line, made numerous trips into Murray's end of the field — with several clean looks at the goal, but failed to get past Critchfield in crunch time.

"I play the same every game; my defense was great today, they helped me a lot," Critchfield said. "They let a couple through and I happened to be in the right place at the right time."

Email: tphibbs@desnews.com

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