5A high school soccer: Brighton hangs on to win girls' soccer championship

SANDY — For 95 minutes, Viewmont appeared ready to forge the perfect ending to its underdog run through the 5A girls soccer tournament.

The Vikings pushed Brighton's defense to the limits deep into a second overtime period and made Bengals goalkeeper Natalie Stoven work overtime to make one incredible save after another.

Then Brighton midfielder McKenna Kimball made the clock strike midnight on Viewmont's title hopes.

Kimball blasted a ball from about 35 yards out in the 96th minute to score the golden goal and helped the Bengals complete an unbeaten season and claim a 5A championship with a 1-0 double overtime victory over the Vikings on Friday night.

It marked the seventh shutout for Brighton (17-0-3) over its final eight games and snapped a four game shutout streak for Viewmont (13-7-1), which needed to win a play-in game against Cottonwood just to reach the playoffs.

"This was our game the whole time," Kimball said. "We knew it. It was just a matter of time before we could put one in."

Kimball seemed an unlikely hero for the golden goal. The senior had scored just four goals this season and one since August. Still, she did not hesitate to let it fly from long distance.

The ball caught a piece of the far post and careened off it and over the head of Vikings goalkeeper Alex Cook. With that shot, Kimball decided a game seemingly destined to end in a shootout.

"I knew it was going in," senior forward Stephanie Verdoia said. "I had a feeling McKenna was going to score."

Stoven made an equally clutch play less than a minute earlier to keep Viewmont from being the team celebrating at Rio Tinto Stadium.

The Vikings had a crack at their own golden goal in the 95th minute when Ali Forsberg turned and sent a perfect volley from the penalty spot toward the left post. Stoven leapt into the air and pushed the ball away with her fingertips to pave the way for Kimball's game winner.

"I just kept telling myself, 'We're not going to lose this one. We're not going to lose,'" Stoven said.

Neither offense could figure out how to crack the opposing defense through two halves and the first overtime period. It ended up being a contest to see which backline and keeper could dominate and put their stamp on the game.