Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
DRAPER — Davis coach Souli Phongsavath had his lineup ready for penalty kicks — the Darts appeared destined for it while knotted with Brighton in Tuesday’s first 5A girls soccer semifinal Tuesday at Juan Diego High School.
But Ireland Dunn didn’t want penalties, and with 12 seconds left, there was just enough time to send the Darts to their first state final in four years.
Dunn scored in the final seconds of the second extra-time period to lead Davis to a 2-1 win over the Bengals and clinch a spot in Friday’s 5A title match at Rio Tinto Stadium.
“It’s surreal,” Phongsavath said. “You’re ready to go into PKs, there’s 12 seconds left, and you prepare yourself for that. To see that, everything just erupted. We were on the other side of this two years ago when we played Viewmont, and they scored in the second overtime. Viewmont fans stormed the field, and we had to sit there and watch it. It’s good to be on the other side.”
It's surreal. You're ready to go into PKs, there's 12 seconds left, and you prepare yourself for that. To see that, everything just erupted.
–Davis coach Souli Phongsavath
Regyn Youngberg turned inside the penalty area and laid off a ball for Dunn, who wasted little time blasting home a shot from 25 yards out that dipped inside the far post seconds before time expired.
“I just shot it, and I think God helped it go in,” said Dunn, a junior. “Not 12 seconds, but I knew there was very limited time left. Definitely knew it was around there.”
Freshman Olivia Wade gave the Darts the lead nine minutes into the match, and Davis took the 1-0 advantage into the halftime break. But Brighton came out roaring with the wind at their backs in the second half, and Raquel Watts broke through around the 60 minute mark to level the match and force the extra period.
“We know we can come back from every game,” said Dunn, who acknowledged there was a little bit of a revenge factor in this matchup. “They killed us last year, and we were ready to come back at them.”
Davis will face Lone Peak at 4:30 p.m. on Friday.
“I told the girls before the game that big players play big in big moments,” Phongsavath said. “That was one of the biggest moments we could have. It was the whole process that led up to it. It was a team effort to get that last goal.”
Lone Peak 1, Alta 0 — At Juan Diego, Natalie Lewis' goal 25 minutes into the match stood up as the unbeaten Knights (19-0) rolled by the Hawks (16-3).
Jessica Smith dished out a perfectly placed cross to Lewis for the goal, and Lone Peak dominated second-half possession to get a shutout for goalkeeper Cassidy Smith.
Contributing: Jeremiah Jensen
