High school boys soccer: Rowland Hall, American Heritage prevail in 2A semifinals to set up championship showdown

Here’s a recap of the 2A boys soccer state tournament semifinals on Thursday at Zions Bank Stadium, with Rowland Hall and American Heritage advancing to the final.

Rowland Hall 2, St. Joseph 1 (OT)

After conceding a late equalizer that sent the game into overtime, it would’ve been natural for Rowland Hall’s players to hang their heads after letting the late lead slip away in the 2A state tournament semifinals.

For the Winged Lions, however, a little overtime was no big deal.

“I said at the start of overtime, ‘We’re the overtime team boys, let’s just go do it,’” said Rowland Hall coach Joe Murray.

Rowland Hall was 4-0 during the regular season in games decided after 80 minutes. Make that 5-0.

Kelton Ferriter buried a penalty kick in the first overtime after a handball in the box by St. Joseph to clinch the 2-1 win for Rowland Hall over the defending state champion Jayhawks at Zions Bank Stadium.

“Once overtime started, we were on the front foot all the way through overtime and I think ultimately we deserved it,” said Murray.

With the win, Rowland Hall advances to Saturday’s 2A state championship against American Heritage at America First Field in Sandy at noon.

St. Joseph beat Rowland Hall twice during region play, including in the regular season finale two weeks ago. Despite that, Murray said his team approached the semifinals with a great mentality.

“We had no fear. We respected them. We know they’re a strong, skillful team, but we’ve improved over the course or the season, especially in the more recent game against them. We showed a defensive resilience that we knew would hold them,” said Murray.

Rowland Hall struck first in the 23rd minute as Nate Kanter lofted a through ball from Ferriter up and over the keeper and into the inside netting for the 1-0 lead.

It was a lead Rowland Hall maintained until the 75th minute as St. Joseph’s urgency pushing forward paid off.

The buildup started in the midfield with Isiah Flores knocking the ball out wide into space and then making a run into the box. After receiving the ball back, he could’ve had a shot on goal himself in traffic, but he elected for the simple square pass to Fontes who calmly slotted it home, tying the score 1-1.

It was momentum St. Joseph couldn’t build on as Rowland Hall wrestled it back in overtime, and the sustained pressure led to the handball in the box by St. Joseph.

American Heritage 3, Maeser Prep 0

American Heritage keeper Weston Larson stood on his head throughout Thursday’s 2A semifinal at Zions Bank Stadium to lead the No. 2 seed Patriots to the 3-0 win over No. 6 seed Maeser Prep, with all three goals coming in the second half.

The junior made numerous saves throughout the match to keep the clean sheet. In the first half, he made a point-blank save on a volley from Maeser Prep’s Jack Stevenson at the six-yard box. Midway through the second half with his team up 2-0, he again made a great reactionary save on a first-time shot from Aidan Simmons after a well-struck cross by Xander Bowler.

“You’ve just got to stay calm, stay composed, you can’t lose your head at all. Because when you’re calm and composed and unified with your team, there’s many things that can stop you,” said Larson.

The title game will be a rematch of the 2022 2A championship game that Rowland Hall won 2-0. Last year, American Heritage lost to St. Joseph in the 2A semifinals 5-0.

Scoreless at half, Luke Stratton, Cael Tillman and Niwahai Winitana all scored goals in the second half as the Patriots pulled away to book its spot in Saturday’s championship against Rowland Hall at noon at America First Field.

Coach Stephen Blake believes his team’s pressing defense played a big role in those three second-half goals, a message he hammered home at the half.

“Just keep to the game plan, press them, get them to make mistakes, get the ball, go score. Press them over and over again, don’t let them settle,” said Blake.

Stratton opened the scoring just three minutes into the second half on a 35-yard free kick that sailed over the hands of Maeser Prep’s keeper and into the back of the net.

Less than 10 minutes later, Tillman doubled the lead on a simple finish into the open net. He got behind the defense, forcing Maeser’s keeper to come off his line near the top of the box, but the keeper couldn’t get a clean kick on the ball outside the box, with Tillman collecting it and tapping it in.

In the final minutes, Winitana tacked on the third goal for the Patriots.