4A champ Alta grinds way to 1-0 win, 7th state title


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SANDY — Alta’s boys soccer team was under siege.

As the Hawks were clinging to a 1-0 lead with 40 minutes remaining, East’s assault began. The Leopards put 10 shots up on Alta as the state’s blueblood soccer program tried to hold on.

There was only one thing Alta could do: grind away.

Josh Affleck scored the only goal of the match in the eighth minute, and goalkeeper Adam Teerlink made it hold up to help the Hawks to their second state title in three seasons with a 1-0 victory over East in the Class 4A state championship Thursday at Rio Tinto Stadium.

“All throughout the playoffs, we’ve just fought hard until the end,” said Teerlink, who made three clutch saves in the second half, including a penalty kick. “It showed until the end — they kept pushing and pushing, and we were just lucky to get the win.”

It was anything but easy, however.

Alta (18-1-1) outshot the Leopards 10-2 in the first half, including the early lead when Affleck banged a ball into the back of the net amid a furious opening 15 minutes.

“They’re huge. We always talk about coming out strong; it dictates the entire game,” said Affleck, a junior. “It was good to get that early goal.” East (14-5) turned the game on its head in the final 20 minutes, but Alta’s defense rose to the occasion.

“How good were they? It was 1-0,” Alta coach Lee Mitchell said. “That’s how good they were.”

With about 12 minutes remaining, East saw a free kick from 20 yards out carom off the top of the crossbar. Two minutes later, East’s Yves Govina stepped up to take a penalty kick after his teammate was taken down in the box.

Govina stuttered, danced, then rifled a shot down the middle of the chute.

Teerlink was there, and Alta was on its way to its seventh state title in school history.

“Every keeper has his secrets, but I just guessed and got lucky for it,” the senior goalkeeper said.

It wasn’t always pretty. But the Hawks have had a habit of winning close games in 2017. They rallied for a 2-1 win over Box Elder in Tuesday’s semifinals, and held off Ogden 3-1 the round before that.

“We were grinding. That’s the only word I can explain it,” said Mitchell, who won his 15th state title with Alta’s boys and girls soccer teams. “They just find a way to win. These guys should’ve scored some goals — they hit the post a couple of times, had a PK, and yet our guys found it.”

East, meanwhile, cruised into the title match with a 4-0 pounding of Skyline — and the Leopards showed an offensive firepower that was barely stymied by Teerlink and his defense.

“My back line is phenomenal,” Teerlink said. “They’ve been clutch so many times and have helped me out so much. Full credit to them for what I do — they cut off angles, get touches on the ball, and I love them so much.

“They (East) really put the pressure on us; we could barely handle it. We just kept trying our best, working hard, and we got the W.”

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