Estimated read time: 4-5 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 Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information.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.
SANDY — Early Wednesday morning, Alta High's six seniors on the boys soccer team received their high school diplomas, then immediately left and drove back to the school so they could leave with the rest of the team for the 5A state championship.
One teammate, a sophomore goalkeeper, made sure that wasn't the last of the day's celebrations.
Brock Bennion, Faris Kurdi and Carter Bell each converted a penalty, and sophomore goalkeeper Thiago Moreira made three saves in the shootout to help the Hawks hold off Lehi 3-1 in a shootout after a scoreless title match Wednesday at Rio Tinto Stadium.
"It just feels like a perfect ending," Alta coach Mackenzie Hyer said. "It's a perfect ending to a great school year. This group in particular had to give up so much with the pandemic; and now for them to have an amazing day of graduation and winning a state championship, it's a gift that they've earned."
With the win, Alta won its ninth state title in program history, tying the state record across all classifications. Only Bountiful holds as many, and the Redhawks haven't won since 2013; the Hawks have four championships since then, including three under legendary coach Lee Mitchell, who was on hand at Rio Tinto Stadium to celebrate with the program's first title since 2018.
"At practice, we always have alumni come in and give us a little speech," Moreira said. They talk to us about how life is, when they played here, how they won.
"It's pretty big. We all wanted to leave a mark on that legacy."
But to get to this one, Alta — which entered the day with a 17-2 overall record after advancing to the finals via penalty shootout over Skyline in Monday's semifinal — had to rely on each other.
So Moreira made them a deal: if his shooters make him look good, he'll do the same.
"I told them, I'll do my part as long as they do theirs," Moreira said. "That's what they did: they stepped up, and they didn't stop playing. They waited until the game was over, put it all out there, and we got what we wanted."
Similar to Alta, the Pioneers (14-4-1) advanced through the bracket by the narrowest of margins, a No. 5 seed that won by no more than two goals up through Monday's semifinal — a 3-1 shootout over ninth-seeded Stansbury.
That led to Wednesday's championship match, when Lehi held Alta to a scoreless draw through regulation and two extra-time sessions, with chances from Jack Johnson to Kurdi to Lincoln Eberhardt's breakaway with five minutes left in regulation that sent the Alta student section into an uproar — only to realize the "goal" hit the outside of the side netting.
Lehi's Nate Shepherd nearly ended it in the fifth minute of extra time, but his right-footed shot across his body from the top of the area slid just wide of the goal mouth.
With two of the state's top defenses — or at least, top-tested through the playoffs — it only seemed fitting to separate the two by the narrowest of margins: from the penalty spot, after regulation and a pair of 10-minute extra-time periods.
And the Hawks were ready for it.
"We ask shooters each time if they're ready, and every single one of them was like, 'absolutely.' So game on," Hyer said. "We practiced probably 1,000 PKs over the season, over and over again.
"Each player has a different mindset, and those players were ready to go out and win that game. I'm so proud of all of them. But it started with a great game on a huge field, in probably the first hot day we've had all season. We're used to snow and cold, but to battle the heat, the wide field, and a great team in Lehi, it showed when they were ready to step up and make those penalties."
The title is the ninth for Alta, but the first for Hyer — an Alta alum herself.
"On my coaching staff, we're all Alta soccer players," Hyer said. "And I got to play for the great Lee Mitchell. What we got to do today was continue the tradition of winning and of excellence that he started in 1983.
"It's a credit to every player that came before, that we are able to continue those traditions … It's part of our history at Alta soccer, and these boys have written an amazing chapter for 2022. I'm really proud of them."
