Brighton High School hosted Copper Hills in girls soccer Thursday to kickoff the region play for both teams, and the game did not disappoint.
Copper Hills came in to the game against the reigning state champs unbeaten on the season with several decisive wins on its resume, while the Bengals have a loss and a tie. However, since their loss to Lone Peak, the Bengals have started to gel in running off three wins in a row.
The region opener was deadlocked at the end of regulation, and in the first overtime it was more of the same with the Bengals controlling possession, but they were unable to break the tie. A couple of minutes into the second overtime the Bengals pressured the Copper Hills' defense and earned a corner kick.
Mia Mazur's corner was well-hit into the box near the 6-yard mark where it was deflected high into the air where it seemed to hang forever until Sydney Seamons got her head on it and sent it past the goalie for the game-winner.
The Grizzlies started off a little slow giving up several shots on goal early, but no harm done. None of the shots made it past their keeper. Just when it seemed that the Bengals were going to dominate the game, a defensive mishap by the home team allowed a Copper Hills counter attack that it quickly turned in to a shot on goal that found its mark out of reach of the goalie in the upper right hand corner of the goal.
Shell-shocked to find themselves down a goal less than 15 minutes into the game, the senior-laden Bengals quickly regained their composure and put the pressure back on the Grizzlies' defense.
Brighton had several shots from distance that challenged the Copper Hills' keeper, one of which clanked off the post. With time winding down in the half Copper Hills still led 1-0.
With less than two minutes to play Seamons got off a shot — low and hard on frame — that found its way through the keeper's legs and into the back of the net to tie the game up at 1-1 at the half.
The second half was a back-and-forth affair with both teams having chances to score, but nether side able to break the tie. Brighton seemed to control possession most of the half and it seemed it had more chances to score than the Grizzlies, but thanks to some outstanding saves by the Bengal keeper the score was still 1-1 at the end of regulation.