High school soccer: Leopards shutout Logan in first-round victory

SALT LAKE CITY — In the first round of the 4A boys state soccer tournament between East and Logan, fans witnessed multiple yellow cards, a gruesome injury and spectacular goaltending — all while getting pounded by raindrops.

Despite all that, the Leopards were happy to advance.

After dropping its final region game, the East seniors were able to redeem themselves with a 3-0 victory, advancing to take on Dixie in the next round.

"We lost to Bountiful here on our last home game, so this leaves a little better taste in our mouths after the seniors losing the final game in region play," said East coach Rudy Schenk. "I thought we did a pretty good job of our game plan. We tried to convince the guys to shoot a little more, and that's what you have to do in these conditions."

East opened the scoring in the 15th minute. After receiving a cross from midfield, Hassan Osman sent a laser into the bottom right-hand corner of the net to give the Leopards the 1-0 lead.

That's all goalkeeper Gavin Van Minde needed.

It didn't matter what Logan tried, Van Minde had a definitive answer to stop the Grizzlies' offensive attack.

"I thought he played really well," said Schenk. "He only made one mistake and fortunately his center-back saved him, but he's been really good all year. He's a great goalkeeper."

East extended the lead when Peter Haight placed a perfect header in the wheelhouse range of teammate Blake Smith, who immediately fired a bullet that squeezed past the top right-hand post.

That's when things got ugly. In the opening minutes of the second half, a Logan player went to slide for a loose ball with Van Minde, who's leg awkwardly bent backwards, causing a compound-fracture.

"That's unfortunate; that was really bad. I didn't think there was anything cheap in any way. It happens," said Schenk. "I don't know if he stepped wrong or whatever happened. I could hear the snap — I mean it was ugly. I hope the kid's OK. I feel bad for him; hopefully, he can heal quickly."

Once the paramedics left the playing field, Haight added another goal during stoppage time to secure the Leopards' win.

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