High school soccer: Vikes rally to win Region 1 crown

KAYSVILLE — It was probably inevitable that top-ranked Viewmont would face adversity at some point during this boys soccer season.

The Vikings had been flying high since the beginning of Region 1 play en route to a commanding lead atop the league table and a No. 1 ranking in the state.

And then came last Tuesday.

Just a few hours before the Vikings were scheduled to travel north to face second-place Fremont in Plain City, four varsity starters sluffed school and were suspended for the important showdown.

"Basically," explained coach Dave Wigham, "they decided to go to breakfast rather than be in school the day of a game, so we suspended them."

The nightmarish morning got worse when the Vikings fell 3-1 to Fremont, and because of everything that happened that day, the Vikings — as you'd expect — were eager to make amends ASAP.

Two days later, job done.

Star midfielder Colton Cook scored just before halftime and defender Wes Tripp netted the game-winner in the 67th minute as Viewmont came-from-behind to beat arch-rival Davis 2-1 on Thursday.

The Darts gave Viewmont fits for large stretches of the contest, but the Vikings showed lots grit and resolve to clinch the outright Region 1 championship, their first outright league title in 12 years.

"We will gladly take it," said senior Tommy Barrett.

Thursday's critical sequence arrived in the closing moments of the first half.

Mike Rasmussen slotted home nicely to give the Darts a deserved 1-0 lead in the 37th minute. However, Barrett won a free kick just outside of Davis' penalty area seconds after the ensuing kick-off, and a quick piece of thinking by Cook led to an equalizer.

With Davis still setting up its defensive wall, Cook quickly rushed up and whacked the ball into the net. The star midfielder said afterward that he didn't ask the referee to back up the wall, and the referee didn't ask Cook to wait for him to blow his whistle.

Accordingly, the referee pointed to midfield, signifying he goal counted, and all of Davis' hard-earned momentum was crushed in one moment.

With Abe Lopez shifted behind Cook throughout the second half, the Vikes did a better job of trying to slow down Davis' outstanding midfield, and Tripp, one of the four suspended players two days earlier, popped up with the game-winner in the 67th minute.