DRAPER — The frustrations were evident on the faces of the American Fork girls soccer team as they went into extra time of Tuesday's Class 6A state semifinal against Layton.

"Just kick it around the 'keeper," teammates screamed from the sideline, referring to Layton goalkeeper Meg Edwards.

With two minutes left in the first extra period, the Cavemen did just that.

Rachel McCarthy scored the only goal of the match eight minutes into extra time as American Fork edged Layton 1-0 to advance to the Class 6A girls soccer state championship Tuesday at Juan Diego.

"I did a back clip, ran (toward) the ball and the defense slowed down," said McCarthy, whose team outshot the Lancers 10-5. "When I saw Addi busting through that gap, she found me again and I finished it."

The Cavemen (18-1) will face Syracuse, which advanced to the first title match in school history with a 4-1 win over Bingham earlier Tuesday afternoon.

“Our biggest enemy in the style that we play is the turf. But the adversity we faced and the hard-fought nature of the game meant our girls didn’t give up," American Fork coach Derek Dunn said. "They know better not to give up. We’ve been in this several times this year, and we knew we could finish this game.”

American Fork tried the same backpost run a half-dozen times earlier in the match, but Edwards stonewalled the Caveman offense, which ran up a 3-0 shots advantage in the extra session.

The Lancers (11-7-1) controlled the early flow of the game in the first half, but Addi Holmstead nearly gave the white-clad Cavemen a 1-0 lead just under two minutes before the half. But the standout striker's counter-attacking shot swerved just inches wide of the left post — a precursor for American Fork's second half.

American Fork held the Lancers without a shot on goal in the second half until the 68th minute, when a shot from distance fell easily into the arms of goalkeeper Haven Empey. The sophomore whose father Mike coaches the offensive line at BYU made four saves to earn the shutout for American Fork.

“She was clutch and so confident as a sophomore. You can’t ask for that," said Dunn, who also coached Empey's older sister Savannah, currently a freshman with the BYU women's soccer team. “She was huge. The best thing about Haven is that she comes from a great, athletic family and she was ready. She told me as much, and she showed it.”

With all the open shots, American Fork tried a simple backpost run following a shot from distance to try to create space.

The Lancers (and Edwards, in particular) held it off — until one final run that ended the match on a golden goal and sent the Cavemen to Friday's championship at Rio Tinto Stadium.

"Addi saw me making a run, and she was selfless, found me and I just finished it," said McCarthy, who moved to American Fork from California this summer.

"I think people just wanted it so bad. They got here last year, and did not want to repeat (a loss) again."

Syracuse 4, Bingham 1

At Juan Diego, Ashlyn Hall scored two goals as the Titans advanced to the 6A state final for the first time in school history.

Carolina Stringfellow and Lauren Burnett each added a goal for the Titans (17-2), who led 2-0 at halftime.

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