Viewmont boys capture first 5A soccer title in 21 years


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DRAPER — Kason Larsen’s uncle Josh was on the 1995 state title-winning boys soccer team for Viewmont, the last time the Vikings took home the ultimate prize in Class 5A.

With one opportunistic blast, he left his mark on the Vikings’ latest triumph.

Larsen’s opportunistic goal equalized for Viewmont at 2-2, and Drake Cook scored twice to lead the Vikings to their first championship in 21 years with a 4-2 victory over Fremont in the 5A championship match Thursday at Juan Diego Catholic High School.

“We knew it’s been a long time,” Larsen said. “We knew it was our time, that we had to do it, we had the heart and we came together as brothers to finish it like we knew we could.”

After Austin Freeman gave the Silverwolves a 2-1 lead in the 57th minute, Larsen scored the biggest goal of his career. Fremont goalkeeper Preston Johnson made a stunning save but lost the ball as he was falling out of bounds — and Larsen was in the right place at the right time to put it in and equalize in a match the Vikings would never trail again.

“Logan was right there and chipped it up, and I happened to be standing right where I needed to be,” Larsen said of junior Logan Cawley, who finished with two assists. “It just hit off my head and went in. I didn’t have to do anything.”

Marshall Johnson tallied the game-winner with 13 minutes remaining, and Cook finished off the match with a thunderous exclamation point in front of the capacity crowd in Juan Diego’s grandstand.

“It was just a flash of lights, and I knew we're going to raise the championship trophy,” said Cook, who scored in the 79th minute. “We’re going to be going home with the state title, man. It was awesome.”

Photo: Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
Photo: Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Viewmont (13-3-3) ended the season with two-straight dropped points, including a humbling 5-2 loss to Davis in the regular-season finale.

But none of that mattered Thursday night.

“We had a good team-bonding moment and came together,” Cook said “All that matters is the playoffs.”

Alec Ferrin gave the Silverwolves (15-5-1) the early lead, heading home a long free kick that caromed off the crossbar to give Fremont the lead just 12 minutes into the match.

The Vikings responded immediately, pushing up the field before Cook curled in a free kick in the 20th minute from just outside the 18-yard box to even the score at 1-1 at halftime.

“We expect that out of them. We’ve gone down too many times early,” Viewmont coach Spencer Keddington said. “These kids just fight; they have the resiliency of a group that I’ve never coached before. They never believe that they are out of it.”

Larsen’s last-gasp effort was followed by Marshall Johnson’s header on a ball from Jarron Brown just five minutes later, and Viewmont never trailed again.

“That brought us straight to where we needed to be,” Larsen said. “It gave us all the intensity that we needed to finish this off.

“I usually can’t hear the crowd, but that was one of the first times I heard it. It was pretty awesome.”

By the time Cook scored his second goal in the final minute of the match, the Viewmont-heavy throng of fans was shaking the grandstand. It had been too long, students and alumni shouted at each other before rushing the field in jubilation prior to the postgame trophy ceremony.

“We talk about it all the time: since 1995, 21 years is a long time for a program like Viewmont,” Keddington said. “We’ve had other players come back and tell us it’s been too long.

“It was our time — it was these kids’ time.”

After 21 long years, the Vikings are once again state champions.

“I can’t even think,” Larsen said. “I never thought in a million years that this would happen. My uncles and dad have all been to state championships, and some have won and some haven’t.

“They told me this was our year; I knew we were going to win it from the start.”

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