Here’s a recap of the 6A state tournament semifinals games at Zions Bank Stadium on Tuesday.
Bingham 0, Lone Peak 0 (Bingham wins in PKs 12-11)
Games just do not get as close as the 6A semifinal between Bingham and Lone Peak.
The Miners and Knights stayed in a 0-0 stalemate through all 100 minutes of regulation and overtime and it still took 14 pairs of shots in penalty shootouts to decide a winner.
In the end, No. 13 Bingham continued its Cinderella run with a 12-11 victory in PKs to knock off top seeded Lone Peak and punch its ticket to the 6A championship game. The Miners now have a shot to win their second-ever state title and its first since 2001.
“Their tenacity, their grit and their never giving up attitude,” said Bingham head coach Chad Pierson of what it took for his boys to win on Tuesday.
It was a defensive minded game all around for both teams, though it was Bingham that set much of the pace in the first half.
The Miners kept control of the ball and largely didn’t allow the Knights many chances to score. However, Bingham struggled to finish in the final third against the tight Lone Peak defense.
Lone Peak flipped the game on its head in the second half and really pushed the Bingham defense. The Knights had a few shots on goal, but Bingham keeper Riley Whicker came up with a stop.
Whicker was essential in Bingham’s semifinal win as he was the last line of defense which allowed the Miners to take it to a penalty shootout.
On the first shot of the shootout Whicker came up again with a big save to put the Miners ahead.
“It’s just unreal,” Whicker said of the semifinal win. “The effort was all there, and as a team captain I’m the leader, but honestly, these guys lead me. The amount of heart and effort everyone puts into this game is unreal and I would not trade this team for anything.”
While Bingham had the goal lead in the first five penalty shots, an equally impactful save made by Lone Peak keeper Maxwell Kandell kept its hopes of a 6A title alive.
The shots kept going back and forth until Lone Peak just missed a shot off the left crossbar.
With an 11-11 shootout tie, Eli Laroza stepped up and delivered one final goal which cemented the 12-11 win and a trip to America First Stadium on Thursday.
There were not a lot of saves to be had in the shootout, but Whicker had full trust in his teammates to step up when a goal slipped by him.
“I know all my teammates and I know they can hit every one of those shots,” Whicker said. “Unfortunately, a couple missed, but in my head I was like, ‘Man, you guys got back to it.’ They trusted me in goal and it’s just, trust your soccer team and you can win big games.”
It was a big redemption for Whicker as last year Bingham narrowly missed out on a championship appearance after losing in similar fashion to eventual 6A champion American Fork in the semifinals after a long shootout.
This year however, the Miners have shattered expectations and now can win their first championship in 24 years.
American Fork 2, Skyridge 1
American Fork’s chances at repeating as 6A state champions was in jeopardy Tuesday as the Cavemen struggled to find the back of the net and entered halftime with a 1-0 deficit.
It wasn’t as if American Fork didn’t have its chances, it just couldn’t capitalize. The Cavemen are a team that generates a lot of offense and averages over three goals per game.
Eventually the offense pulled through and two second half goals pushed the Cavemen past the Skyridge Falcons for the 2-1 semifinal win.
The first half couldn’t have been much more frustrating for American Fork. Playing a Region 3 rival like Skyridge brings out a physicality and chippiness that teams can struggle with.
Alongside the physicality, the shots that the Cavemen were generating just wouldn’t go in. Star forward and 2024 Mr. Soccer Lewis Knecht had a breakaway late in the first half which bounced off the top left crossbar.
The frustrating first half only got worse as Skyridge scored its first goal with just 30 seconds left before halftime. Falcons’ Keith Gardner played a ball forward to Christian Poll and he capitalized with the go-ahead goal.
“It was just to calm down,” American Fork head coach Casey Waldron said of his halftime message. “We were talking about towards the end of the first half and we were still jittery. We were like, ‘Guys, we’ve been playing for 35 minutes.’ We all just needed to sit down and take a break for a second.”
A break is exactly what American Fork needed for its second half comeback.
The equalizer goal came in the 50th minute after a breakaway from Knecht led to a corner kick. Knecht took the kick as quick as he could before the defense was able to get set. Knecht made a tight-angle pass to Preston Osborne which he finished.
“Me and (Knecht) locked eyes and we knew it was just off a fast break, and they were going to be out of it,” Osborne said. “We locked eyes and I called his name, and he played it in perfectly. I was able to get there and poke it in.”
Knecht might’ve only had one assist in today’s game, but his gravity was a major asset for American Fork. The Skyridge defense played physical with Knecht and he got fouled right outside the box in the 60th minute.
Miller Hall took the free kick after the foul. Hall had a shot from nearly the exact same spot earlier in the half. Hall placed it in the top right corner but Skyridge’s keeper made a great save.
Hall has taken dozens of free kicks this year for American Fork and hadn’t scored on one. However, Tuesday was different and he placed the ball back in the top right corner and this time he made sure the ball found the net.
If there was ever a time to finally score on a free kick, it was Tuesday as Hall’s goal made the difference in the 2-1 semifinal win.
“It’s probably one of the greatest feelings I’ve felt all my life,” Hall said. “All season I‘ve been lining up for free kicks, probably taking about 40 this year, and I haven’t made a single one. I guess this one kind of felt different.
“Before the game and last night I was imagining me scoring today and I thought standing over the ball (on a) free kick, I’m going to put that one in the back of the net. I knew right when I stepped I was going to do it for the team.”
American Fork advances to the 6A title game where they’ll face the hottest team in the tournament, No. 13 Bingham.
Last year the Cavemen ended a 40-year championship drought. That American Fork team went back-to-back and this Cavemen team wants to do the same.
“We won it on the 40-year anniversary last year and they went back-to-back 40 years ago,” Waldron said. “So, it’s kind of fitting and we would love to do it. We’ve got a big challenge ahead of us. Bingham is a great team and we have our work cut out for us.”