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SANDY — It was the 100th minute and a shootout seemed inevitable, so Alta's Korban Bluth figured he and teammate Riley Fehr had nothing to lose trying the set play they've been practicing on the training ground all year.
Set plays from throw-ins virtually never work, but with less than a minute remaining in Thursday's 5A boys soccer championship at Rio Tinto Stadium, Bluth figured why not.
"I just make a curling run over the back of the defense and he's got great throw-in," he said.
Amazingly, it unfolded exactly as Bluth and Fehr envisioned. Bluth corralled the ball in the box, and quickly cut it back to free himself from a Brighton defender.
What happened after that Bluth said, "is the best feeling I've ever had in my life."
Just 30 seconds before Thursday's thrilling final would be decided in a shootout, the Alta senior hammered home the close-range winner to lift the Hawks to an improbable 3-2 victory over Brighton for the school's fifth boys soccer state championship and first since 2006.
"It could've gone either way for both teams. It was a great game, back and forth," said Alta's Derek Boggs, who finished with a goal and assist. "We were the lucky ones to come out on top."
Had the game gone to a shootout, both teams would've felt confident having advanced with a shootout victory earlier in the playoffs.
With less than a minute left in overtime, even Alta coach Lee Mitchell admitted he was already thinking ahead to shots from the spot.
"I figured it would probably go to shootout, but our kids never gave up. Our kids were coaching themselves at the end," said Mitchell, whose team beat Brighton 1-0 in a region game at Rio Tinto Stadium earlier this month.
Just like in that game, Alta scored first in the rematch. In the 22nd minute, Boggs easily finished from just five yards out after Brighton failed to clear a free kick that was delivered into the box from midfield.
Even though Alta won five 1-0 games this season, it knew keeping a clean sheet against Brighton in the final would be unlikely.
"I knew they were going to score, I knew we were going to score," said Alta's Alex Lawhun.
For Brighton, the 1-0 deficit was no big deal. It fell behind Murray in the first half of Tuesday's semifinal, but just like in that game, Brighton equalized quickly in the second half.
Skyler Milne got the chance started with a great dribbling run into the box, but after he stumbled in a collision with the keeper, teammate James Carrigan was there to bury the shot into the open net to level the score at 1-1 in the 46th minute.
Brighton seemed the fresher team over the next 15 minutes, but Alta's defense didn't panic amid the pressure and was eventually rewarded.
"We knew they were going to be coming out fast like they always do," said Boggs. "We were on our heels a little bit — the game's a roller-coaster."
There was plenty of excitement remaining.
Just 12 minutes from the end of regulation, Lawhun put his team on the doorstep of its first state title in five years when he headed home a headed cross from Boggs to put Alta back in front 2-1.
In dramatics worthy of the Alta-Brighton rivalry, the Bengals weren't done yet.
Just three minutes from the final whistle, Brighton midfielder Connor Colletti slipped in behind Alta's defense to head in another dramatic equalizing goal.
With all the momentum, and the fresher legs because of its frequent substitution patterns, Brighton was in great position to steal the victory in overtime.
Mitchell was never worried about his players' resolve, though.
"I always had that feeling that we were going to win. We never give up. We always push," said Lawhun.
Only Bluth could've envisioned the game unfolding quite as dramatically as it did.
Email: jedward@desnews.com
