High school girls' soccer: Ogden wins its second 3A state championship in three years with three goals in the last eight minutes

 High school girls' soccer: Ogden wins its second 3A state championship in three years with three goals in the last eight minutes

In a repeat of the state championship game from 2021, the No. 2 Ogden Tigers defeated the No. 4 Morgan Trojans, 3-1.

SANDY — There just wasn't a 3A team in ladies soccer that was anywhere like as talented as Ogden in 2023.

On Saturday, the No. 2 Tigers made sure everyone knew it when they defeated the No. 4 Morgan team convincingly 3-1 to capture their sixth state championship trophy.

Ogden has won two of the previous three state championships after switching to 3A in 2021, and Saturday's game was its fifth consecutive trip in a state championship game following games in 4A in 2019 and 2020.

There were few adjectives Ogden coach Ryan Robinson could use to sum up one of their possibly most dominating seasons out of all those years.

Robinson answered simply, "Fantastic. I don't have many words to say today. They are a strong gang. I'm delighted for them.

The Tigers, who had more Division I-committed players on the field than the majority of 6A schools, just needed to defeat their own area foe, whom they had already handily defeated twice this season, in order to establish their legacy.

But for a good portion of Saturday afternoon, it seemed to be more difficult than anticipated.

For the first 38 minutes of the game, Morgan kept the Tigers without a goal while surviving a barrage of attacking opportunities from the opposition, including five attempts on goal by Ogden in the first period.

Robinson stated, "You play a team three times, it's not easy." When you're competing in a state championship, it's different.

The physical ferocity of the Morgan defense was basically up against the subtlety of the Ogden attacking front. The Trojans had several opportunities to score against Ogden's defense but were only able to muster a small number of shots, none of which were on target.

Ogden had significant difficulty adjusting due to the enormous size of the pitch at America First Field. For no other reason than the other forward was having trouble getting downfield in time, many attempts to cross the ball to generate a chance in front of the goal were unsuccessful.

First half obviously moved a bit more slowly than we had hoped, said to junior forward Bella Gray. "We didn't get the opportunities we desired. It felt pretty fantastic when I made my shot and had a few chances in the second half since we weren't going to the ball's end.

In an attempt to depend on its skill, Ogden took the most of its shots from a distance. However, in the 38th minute, senior Maya Robinson won a struggle inside the goalbox and chipped the ball in for the lone goal of the first half.

That goal helped to unleash a wave of Ogden offense even with halftime acting as a buffer. Ogden added two more points in the opening seven minutes of the second half to seize complete control of an otherwise close game. Senior Kate Pulley and Gray both scored off passes from one another.

Following in the footsteps of her sister Bonita, who scored the first goal in Ogden's victory over Ridgeline to win the 2019 4A state championship, Gray's goal was very significant for her.

"I couldn't have asked for more. It felt fantastic," Gray said. "It was so great just to succeed as my sister did back in 2019. I was quite joyful.

This postseason season, the Tigers often let up the same rapid reaction goal, and the championship game was no exception.

Macie Burton of Morgan took a 40-yard free kick and aimed right at the goal, and it deflected off the hands of Emily Blackford of Ogden to give Morgan a lead. Morgan only attempted one goal-bound shot the whole game.

But rather of giving the Trojans a boost in confidence, Ogden cranked the heat up a notch and sprinted down the field, almost scoring again only 20 seconds after the goal.

Morgan hardly ever crossed midfield for the rest of the game as the Tigers combined defense with offensive.

Nevaeh Peregrina, Ms. Soccer 2022, is one of the seniors departing Ogden. Peregrina, a committed member of the University of Portland, didn't score or assist in her last game with the Tigers, but that didn't really concern her.

Peregrina said, "I brought the title back to Ogden. "I'm going right now."