High school girls soccer: Green Canyon, Park City secure dramatic 4A semifinal wins with stunning golden goals

Here’s a recap of the two 4A girls soccer semifinals that were held at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman on Monday, with No. 1 Green Canyon and No. 3 Park City prevailing to set up a championship showdown Friday.

Green Canyon 1, Ridgeline 0

Top-seed Green Canyon will play for the 4A championship on Friday, and Chloe Sadler’s Messi-esque goal made it possible.

The freshman, who’s participated in several U.S. Youth National Team camps, curled a free kick into the back of the net from 24 yards out with just 26 seconds left in overtime as the Wolves eked out the 1-0 win over No. 4 seed Ridgeline.

“I was really nervous because there’s literally like 30 seconds left in the game, so I just took five deep breaths and just was like, ‘I got this and I just collected myself and then shot it,” said Sadler.

The Wolves’ hero said she’s had a few chances like that this year, but usually curls her shot over the crossbar. On the big stage of the semifinals though, her shot curled perfectly into the top corner as it clipped off the fingertip of Ridgeline’s Lily Loyet.

“I knew as soon as it started curving. I was like, ‘That’s it,’” said Sadler.

Loyet had played great all game in keeping the game scoreless as she repeatedly came off her line to collect Green Canyon through balls. There wasn’t anything she could do on Sadler’s special free kick though.

With the victory, Green Canyon advances to Friday’s 4A state championship at 2 p.m., where it will face against Park City at American First Field.

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“We gotta go do it. This is their opportunity and their chance. So I’m excited,” said Green Canyon coach Kirt Sadler.

Green Canyon will enter the final on the heels of a seventh-straight shutout. The Wolves’ ability to possess the ball really limits opportunities for other teams, and that was the same for large stretches on Monday.

It was by no means a perfect performance though, as coach Sadler said his team was a bit off, but it never gave up any clear-cut scoring chances.

“We are the best at keeping the ball, and it was just a little bit off today,” said Sadler, who said playing Ridgeline for the third time might’ve had something to do with it, and a new playing surface.

Green Canyon was incredibly unlucky not to score in the 66th minute, when Ridgeline defender Olivia Straatman cleared two shots off her line. The first occurred after the ball slipped through the hands of her keeper, but she was right there to get a slight clearance.

The second one came on the rebound as Chloe Sadler rocketed a shot right in the gut of Straatman.

Park City 2, Stansbury 1

While a last-second free kick decided the winner in the first semifinal, a rare ‘Olympico’ goal decided the second.

Park City midfielder Kendall Hassel curled a corner kick straight into the back of the net 45 seconds into the second overtime as the Miners edged region foe Stansbury for the 2-1 4A semifinal win.

“So I was definitely making a front post ball, one of our top scorers runs front post every single time so I was looking for her head and it just happened to have enough curve on it to get behind their front post marker. Got kind of lucky,” said Hassel.

Park City dominated possession throughout the match and was less than a minute away from clinching the win in regulation, but a foul at the top of the box gave the Stallions a lifeline and Emie Major capitalized by scoring in the 80th minute on a free kick that deflected off a Park City defender.

The was no panic on the Park City sideline though heading into overtime.

“Our coach is a very optimistic person, so he was kind of just like, so what if they score, we have 10 more minutes, let’s get it in,” said Kendall.

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It actually took 10 minutes and 45 seconds though, as neither team scored in the first overtime. In the second overtime, Park City quickly won possession and earned the decisive corner kick.

With the victory, the Miners move into the final against Green Canyon and are one victory away from claiming the school’s first state title since 2005. The final kicks off at 2 p.m. at America First Field.

Park City beat Stansbury twice in region play, and both matches were close, with the second one being decided by penalties.

The third game was always going to be difficult with the extra emotion of a semifinal, and Park City didn’t do more with the chances it created in the first half. It finally found the back of the net early in the second half as Hailey Olsen headed in a cross from Elsa Dellenbach.

Despite the deficit, Stansbury had a very difficult time creating possession and chances over the final 33 minutes of the half, but a slight misplayed ball in the final minute opened the door for a shocking equalizer.

“We talk about it all the time, the margins in the game of soccer are razor thin, and they were for us in that moment and they were for them in the beginning of the second overtime,” said Park City coach Anthony DiCicco.