High school girls soccer: American Fork advances to 6A quarterfinals with nailbiter win over Layton

American Fork looked well on its way to a quarterfinal appearance on Tuesday after its first half against Layton.

The Cavemen may have only had a 1-0 lead, but they smothered the midfield and disrupted all of Layton’s chances at a goal. It felt as though it was only a matter of time before American Fork ran away with it.

That was not the story in the second half, and Layton pushed American Fork to the brink and forced them to earn the close 1-0 6A second-round victory.

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“We still are very proud of them. That first half was so good,” American Fork head coach Tara Warner said. “The second half, I feel like Layton came out harder than us and that was kind of the bottom line. (I’m) just really proud of them for working hard, giving everything until the very last minute.”

It should come as no surprise that American Fork’s leading scorers, Avery Walbruch and Cambree Ballard, delivered the game-winning goal.

It was a methodical goal from start to finish. Walbruch earned her sixth assist of the year on a well-placed pass past the Layton backline to Ballard in the 10th minute. Once Ballard got the ball, she didn’t rush it, instead taking her time to beat the defender for a higher-quality shot.

“(Ballard) has the knowledge and the ability to know when to pull back and when to take the first shot, because there are times to take a one-touch shot,” Warner said. “She was very composed in that situation, and she has the experience. I feel like that experience and composure really helped her in that situation.”

The goal ties Ballard with Walbruch for seven goals on the year.

“Honestly, I just felt super confident,” Ballard said. “I just trusted my skill and knew what I can do and finished it. It’s so much more fun to do in the state tournament. It feels like a different type of goal. It just feels so much better.”

It wasn’t often that American Fork’s defense had to perform heroics in the first half, as Layton’s offense was often stopped before it could get started. Meanwhile, the Cavemen took care of the ball and kept kicking it ahead for the strikers.

There were many times that American Fork looked like it had a good chance to score, but it got caught on a plethora of offside calls. Still, the Cavemen gave the Layton defense its fair share of pressure. If it weren’t for a handful of big saves from Lancers keeper Quincy Reisbeck, Layton could’ve been down multiple goals at half.

Despite a lopsided first half, Layton came out looking much stronger after halftime. The Lancers didn’t get as tripped up in the midfield and managed to get better shots on goal.

An equalizer nearly came 90 seconds into the first half, but it was stopped by American Fork keeper Taybree Hansen. Another close call came in the 55th minute as Layton’s Sophia Barnard had a good-looking shot that bounced off the crossbar.

As time dwindled, teams got more hectic. The one-goal lead looked to be less and less safe. In the end, American Fork held Layton off and advanced to the 6A quarterfinals.

While the Cavemen are excited to move on in the 6A bracket, they were thrilled at their improvements over the season. American Fork is a younger group, with only six seniors on its varsity squad. Its youth showed a bit when, in a three-game stretch in late August and early September, it lost three consecutive games 3-0 to Farmington, Corner Canyon and Lone Peak.

However, American Fork finished off region play with a win over Corner Canyon, and nearly knocked off powerhouse Lone Peak in overtime in late September. Now, American Fork looks like a composed team and is ready to continue to fight in the 6A postseason.

“We do have a really young team,” Warner said. “We had a big freshman class come in and they’ve been awesome. I feel like our seniors and juniors and even our sophomores have all stepped up and shown them the ropes and the expectations. It’s all kind of coming together right now, which is awesome.”

The Cavemen will face the Region 2 champions, Mountain Ridge, in the quarterfinals. The Sentinels currently hold a 12-game winning streak and have not lost since August.