5A high school soccer championship: Hawks soar to victory on Korban Bluth's overtime goal

SANDY — It was the 100th minute and a shootout seemed inevitable, so Alta's Korban Bluth figured he and teammate Riley Fehr had nothing to lose trying the set play they've been practicing on the training ground all year.

Set plays from throw-ins virtually never work, but with less than a minute remaining in Thursday's 5A boys soccer championship at Rio Tinto Stadium, Bluth figured why not.

"I just make a curling run over the back of the defense and he's got great throw-in," he said.

Amazingly, it unfolded exactly as Bluth and Fehr envisioned. Bluth corralled the ball in the box, and quickly cut it back to free himself from a Brighton defender.

What happened after that Bluth said, "is the best feeling I've ever had in my life."

Just 30 seconds before Thursday's thrilling final would be decided in a shootout, the Alta senior hammered home the close-range winner to lift the Hawks to an improbable 3-2 victory over Brighton for the school's fifth boys soccer state championship and first since 2006.

"It could've gone either way for both teams. It was a great game, back and forth," said Alta's Derek Boggs, who finished with a goal and assist. "We were the lucky ones to come out on top."

Had the game gone to a shootout, both teams would've felt confident having advanced with a shootout victory earlier in the playoffs.

With less than a minute left in overtime, even Alta coach Lee Mitchell admitted he was already thinking ahead to shots from the spot.

"I figured it would probably go to shootout, but our kids never gave up. Our kids were coaching themselves at the end," said Mitchell, whose team beat Brighton 1-0 in a region game at Rio Tinto Stadium earlier this month.

Just like in that game, Alta scored first in the rematch. In the 22nd minute, Boggs easily finished from just five yards out after Brighton failed to clear a free kick that was delivered into the box from midfield.

Even though Alta won five 1-0 games this season, it knew keeping a clean sheet against Brighton in the final would be unlikely.

"I knew they were going to score, I knew we were going to score," said Alta's Alex Lawhun.

For Brighton, the 1-0 deficit was no big deal. It fell behind Murray in the first half of Tuesday's semifinal, but just like in that game, Brighton equalized quickly in the second half.