High school soccer: 4A lower seeds Crimson Cliffs, Ridgeline pull off mild upsets to set up unlikely title showdown

Here's a recap of Tuesday's 4A girls soccer semifinals held at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman, with No. 4 seed Ridgeline and No. 3 Crimson Cliffs prevailing to advance to Friday's final at 1 p.m.

Ridgeline has been unbeatable over the past two months, so it was no surprise to see that trend continue in Tuesday's 4A semifinals.

Lily Hunsaker capitalized on a keeper mistake late in the first half, and then Ridgeline's defense calmly dealt with top-seed Park City's pressure the rest of the game as the fourth-seeded Riverhawks earned a 1-0 victory to advance to its second straight title game.

A year ago, Ridgeline lost in the 4A final to Snow Canyon in penalties, but it will hope for a different outcome Friday at 1 p.m. against Crimson Cliffs.

Ridgeline coach Richard Alexander said trust within the squad is what's really pushed the team forward this year.

The Riverhawks started the year 3-3 after suffering losses to quality sides Syracuse, Lone Peak and Green Canyon. They haven't lost since.

"We really struggled with the trust aspect and the togetherness aspect and the chemistry. We really struggled early in the season. A lot of individual talent, and just them trusting the system, us coaches and then each other, themselves," Alexander said. "That aspect of the mind shift really has been noticeable in the last two months of winning."

That trust was a big factor in holding off Park City in the semifinals.

The Miners controlled possession for much of the game, with the ball on their half for long, long stretches. Ridgeline's defense, however, always seemed in control and cleaned up Park City's chances around the edge of the penalty area before they became clear-cut chances.

"I can't talk enough about our defense this season, and especially in today's game. Park City's attack was phenomenal, and if our back line, our defensive center mids, if they're not on their game, when they're not communicating the way that they're playing, we do get those splits on us and we do get some more dangerous attack from Park City," said Alexander.

Starting center backs Rylee Vetica and Sami Boren were the anchors of that backline on Tuesday.

Sophomore midfielder Samantha Brown, who scored the OT winner in last week's quarterfinal win against Mountain View, said minimizing Park City's danger moments was a huge part of the game plan from the opening whistle.

"We made sure in practice that we knew they were going to try to get it over the back line, and we said no ball over the back line — like, don't let anything. And if it's looking like it's going over, drop back. Everything stay in front," said Brown.

Conversely, Ridgeline didn't get in behind Park City's defense much either, but it did once in the 38th minute and that led directly to the game's only goal.

Coincidentally enough, the transition moment started at the other end of the field as Yadinen Parker won an individual battle near the top of the box. She immediately played it forward to Brown, who dribbled upfield to the midfield stripe. Brown then evaded a challenge in the center circle, quickly sending a diagonal ball into space for Hunsaker.

Hunsaker tracked it down near the corner flag, quickly whipping a cross toward the face of goal. Park City's keeper misplayed the ball, with it falling just over the goal line as Brown smashed it into the back of the net simultaneously to make sure it was a goal.

Heading into Friday's final, Brown said the mentality will be a simple one for Ridgeline. "We want to come home with a different trophy. Different trophy, better outcome."

Before the opening whistle of Tuesday's 4A semifinal, Crimson Cliffs defender Sammi Smith said the ref looked at her, grinning ear to ear, and said, 'Hey, you look really excited.' I'm like, 'I am, this game's going to be so fun.'"

For Smith and her Crimson Cliffs teammates, it indeed was an absolute blast.

Courtesy of an Emmie Gardner first-half goal set up by a beautiful pass out of the back by Aihlany Garcia, No. 3 seed Crimson Cliffs pulled off the mild upset of No. 2 seed Green Canyon 1-0 to book its place in the 4A state championship.

Green Canyon's attack had been the most dangerous in the state all season, having scored 123 goals, but Crimson Cliffs' players believed they were capable of slowing the Wolves. They'd only surrendered seven of the 19 games prior to the semis at Zions Bank Stadium.

Sure enough, the elite defense prevailed on Tuesday.

Despite Green Canyon coming at Crimson Cliffs in waves throughout the second half, keeper Kennedy Madsen made some huge saves to preserve the clean sheet and move her team within one win of the first state championship in school history.

"We're a really confident team. The only games that we lost were in PKs or just 1-0. So we've been really strong the whole season. We watched them on their film, and we knew they were a good team, but we're confident in ourselves and we know that we can get there," said Smith.

Despite the confidence, just about everyone expected Green Canyon to win. Crimson Cliffs coach Kat Esplin said that allowed her team to play loose from the opening whistle.

"I do feel like we had nothing to lose," said Esplin. "Sometimes it's easier to be on the hunt."

Going into the game, it was no secret that to have a chance, Crimson Cliffs couldn't let Chloe Sadler dictate the flow of the game for Green Canyon in the midfield. She came into the game with 30 goals and 34 assists and is one of the top midfielders in her age group in the country.

Sadler was on the ball a lot throughout the match, but Crimson Cliffs clogged the channels well throughout the game. That made it difficult to find those devastating through balls.

"They had some really good wingers that would take it down the line and cross it, and our outside backs were really patient. We trust each other really well. We've been playing together, our whole back line, for like four years on our club team and on this team, so we know each other really well," said Smith.

In the first half, before taking the lead in the 37th minute, the challenge for the Mustangs was creating their own chances amid all of Green Canyon's possession.

It ultimately took a world-class through ball from Garcia and a run in behind from Macey Woolley to unlock the Wolves' defense.

After receiving a goal kick from Madsen near the far touch line, Garcia easily dribbled around the first Green Canyon player who approached her. She then played a ball into the path of a streaking Woolley, which bypassed four Green Canyon players and sent Woolley and Gardner running at the defense 2v2.

It was the moment that elite defensive teams crave. Sometimes all they need is one chance.

Woolley dribbled straight into the box despite the extra pressure from a recovering Green Canyon defense and uncorked a shot off the crossbar. The Wolves had a chance to clear the rebound, but Gardner was more aggressive to the ball and tucked in the game's only goal.

"Macie's speed is unstoppable, so we know if she gets the ball at her feet facing goal, she's going to beat everybody and make something great happen, and that's happened all season, happened again today," said Esplin.