High school boys soccer: Mountain Crest upsets Park City, earns berth in 4A semifinals

PARK CITY — During the regular season, the Mountain Crest Mustangs were about as hit and miss as soccer teams go.

The team had only two winning streaks during the year, a two-gamer in the St. George Tournament in the preseason and a three-game run in late March.

Outside of those spurts, Mountain Crest basically lost a game for every one it won, save for a couple of two-game losing streaks in region play.

The result was a nearly .500 record (8-8-1) heading into the 4A state tournament and the No. 3 seed out of Region 12.

After a week of postseason soccer, however, everything has changed.

“This is huge. Obviously this is what they live for. They have worked so hard for this all season long.”

Mountain Crest head coach Mike Gurney

After upsetting the No. 2-seeded Orem Tigers in the first round, the Mustangs did it again in the quarterfinals Saturday afternoon in Park City.

Led by senior midfielders Jackson Clark and Mason Hansen, each of whom netted a goal, Mountain Crest upset the No. 1-seeded Park City Miners by a score of 2-1 and earned the program's first semifinal berth since 2011.

"This is huge," Mountain Crest head coach Mike Gurney said. "Obviously this is what they live for. They have worked so hard for this all season long."

Career long might be more appropriate, as the Mustangs have been led by a core group of seniors, mostly in the midfield, and they had a noticeable impact Saturday.

From the opening kickoff the Mustangs were the aggressors, and they forced the hosting Miners to play on their own third of the field throughout the majority of the first half.

Mountain Crest held a high line, with their defensive backs regularly occupying space at or near midfield.

That was due to the play of the Mustangs midfielders, including Clark and Hansen, as well as Dillan Crystal, Cameron Wright, Treyson Harris and Riley Farmer.

Those players simply controlled the game, and enabled Mountain Crest to dominate possession.

"That is where the core of my seniors are, right there, and they work so well together," said Gurney. "They have played together for years and they play off of each other very well. Their rotations are really good. They know when to defend and they know when to get involved in the attack.

"Everybody feeds off of them. They give us that leadership that you have to have to make a run at state. Leadership from experienced guys. They are giving that to us right now and everybody else is following suit."

For all the dominance of the Mustangs, however, it was the Miners who got on the board first, thanks to a strike by Cameron Chevre in the 30th minute.

"We made a mistake and Park City was right on top of us," said Gurney. "They played it perfectly and made the goal."

Earlier in the season, his team would have been undone by the early deficit, as in fact happened in multiple losses.

Mountain Crest learned from those defeats, though, and minutes later tied the game at one goal apiece thanks to a strike by Hansen, via a free kick.

"There was a stretch this year where we lost four or five games by one point," said Gurney. "In three of those games we got down early and we didn't respond. We didn't have the intensity and we didn't finish those games. I think we learned from that. They knew that they could still find a way to win the game."

That way came early in the second half, when Clark, glued to the far post, corralled a service into the box and sent it into the back of the net.

"It was just one of those things where Jackson said 'I am going to get to that ball.' It was a hustle play and when it comes to state (tournament) games you have to put away your chances," said Gurney. "If you don't, somebody else will."

The Miners had a few chances to tie the game late, on shots by Frankie Giaccio and Angelo Pena, but ultimately couldn't get the best of Mountain Crest goalkeeper Jaydn McBride, and when the final whistle sounded many a Mustang could be heard chanting "Rio Tinto," the site of the 4A state championship game.

"This is what these guys have dreamed about," said Gurney. "To be able to go to a semifinal and have a chance to make it to the finals? This is it. This is what they've worked for."

from Deseret News http://bit.ly/2V1g595