Dons stun T-Birds on Cardon's late heroics

Visiting Spanish Fork upset Timpview 2-1 Tuesday in a Region 6 soccer match.

After losing to Provo by six goals Thursday, the Dons (5-3, 2-1) seemed to have little chance even challenging the first-place T-Birds (6-2, 3-1). Spanish Fork did little to dispel that perception by falling behind 1-0 in the second minute when Timpview midfielder Toni Niccoli converted a scoring opportunity off a John Siddoway assist.

But the Dons held tough, tied it up before halftime, and won the match in the closing minutes on an electric goal by freshman Habtamu Cardon.

"They were at the top of the region right now, so we knew they were going to be good," said Spanish Fork coach Sara Atuaia. "We just told our boys we have nothing to lose, come out and play your hardest. We got smacked by Provo (last week), our morale was down, so this is a win we really needed."

With approximately five minutes remaining, the contest was deadlocked and apparently headed for a tie until the speedy Cardon — who had been chasing balls deep in T-Bird territory all game long only to be repeatedly, preemptively thwarted by goalkeeper Chris Bright's aggressive play — finally got a clean shot at the Timpview goal from 20 yards out. Cardon converted by blasting a laser into the upper right area of the net.

Said Cardon: "The goalie was out. I shot the ball. Probably that was the best goal I've ever shot before."

Niccoli scored the T-Birds' early goal on an off-balance shot from eight yards out that went over Dons goalkeeper Tyrel Watters and into the back of the net.

Throughout the rest of the first half, Timpview dominated time of possession with good ball control and strong midfield play. The T-Birds, however, couldn't convert all that ball control into many serious scoring opportunities.

Around the 20th minute, Spanish Fork's Spencer Wright lofted a corner kick into a crowd of players camped out in front of the net. Junior Ben Gillie managed to knock it in and tie the score.

"I just tried to get it up," said Wright. "I saw the keeper coming out a little bit. I tried to hit Gillie at the top of the box. The keeper knocked it down and Gillie hit it in. It was nice.

"It was a great win. I think we had a desire; we wanted it a little bit more than they did."

The second half saw a lot of back-and-forth play, with both teams notching numerous scoring opportunities. Prior to Cardon's game-winning goal, though, each squad appeared tired.