HERRIMAN — Friday’s third meeting between top-seeded Murray and No. 3 East in the 4A boys soccer championship match wasn’t so much of a rubber match as a revenge game.
East secures championship victory
The Spartans pulled into Zions Bank Stadium with a 2-0 series lead over the Leopards, a pair of one-goal victories in a rivalry series that dates back longer than many of the players had been alive, and a shot at the Spartans’ first championship since 2001.
East pull in looking for a moment 20 years in the making.
Teo Hummasti scored the match-winning goal four minutes after halftime, and goalkeeper Adi Helac made it stand up as the Leopards won their first state title since 2006 with a 2-1 win over previously undefeated Murray in the 4A championship at Zions Bank Stadium.
“The last two years, we’ve come so close,” Hummasti said. “We’ve always had the same core of players, and I think it was about time we took the next step and actually won the thing.”
Added Helac: “We came into the season thinking we could do this. We came up short the last two seasons, and this is a great feeling. It’s something we’ll remember for the rest of our lives.”
Impact of field dimensions
The Spartans out-lasted East twice during region play, a 1-0 win at home followed by a 2-1 victory April 10 at East, before setting up the rivalry series with a pair of 4A semifinal wins.
But neither match was played on a field as wide as Zions Bank Stadium, the home turf of Real Salt Lake’s second-division Real Monarchs built with the same dimensions as America First Field in Sandy.
Hummasati said he felt that gave East (17-3) an advantage — even if the Spartans carried the No. 1 seed in the playoffs and a 20-0 record into Friday.
“Both times, I felt like we possessed the ball really well against them,” he said. “We were just unlucky scoring opportunities. But this field is a lot wider, and it’s a lot easier to play our game on this field. We got our done; it was a much different result on this field.”
Key scoring plays in match
Murray’s Colton Demann struck first, surging to a loose ball in the 13th minute after Axel Lopez’s free kick was denied to break the deadlock.
East responded with a 35-yard free kick from Alejandro Precadio to pull the Leopards even at the 15th-minute mark.
Less than four minutes after halftime, Hummasti pushed the Leopards in front. The junior out-leaped a gaggle of defenders to head home a corner kick from Preciado in the 44th minute to give East the edge it needed.
Coach discusses team depth
Heartache breeds opportunity, or at least experience that East relied on — from behind, from ahead, and everything in between.
“With the heartaches comes experience,” said East coach Javier Viana, whose team lost in the 5A semifinals a year ago before the latest realignment cycle. “I think last year, we were a pretty young team with two fantastic guys up top who carried a lot of the goal-scoring load. This year, that was a worry for us at the start of the year.
“But we have maybe 3-4 guys in double-digit scoring, and we’re a much more balanced team. When we’ve faced injuries or adversity, we have a lot more depth than we’ve had in the last year or so.”
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Late game tension and drama
Murray didn’t go away easily, either.
Carlos Nieto-Rosales teed up a shot inside the box in the 77th minute. But his one-time effort was saved by a menacing Helac, who put both arms in front of him to block the shot from close range.
The Spartans nearly found another equalizer a minute later. But East attempted to clear Brody Nuffer’s lob into the box off the line as the sophomore’s attempt was whistled for a foul when another East player collided with Helac.
“That was the most nervous 30 minutes of my life, especially the last 10. I was shaking,” Hummasti said. “When I saw that goal go in, my heart dropped — and then I heard the ref say it was a foul.
“But I’m glad we made it through.”
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