High school soccer: Davis earns payback, region championship

BOUNTIFUL — If a perfect moment ever existed to clinch a region title, Davis felt like such a moment arrived with its rematch against Viewmont.

The Vikings handed the Darts their only loss of the season nearly four weeks ago. A few Davis players thought Viewmont rubbed their noses in it at the time by playing more physical than necessary, making rude comments and blowing them mock kisses.

So when the Darts used a late scoring outburst to fuel a 3-0 victory inside Viewmont's football stadium on Tuesday night, they felt like justice had been served.

Nothing could match the thrill of taking home a second consecutive Region 1 trophy at their rival's expense

"We're really excited because that was one of our goals before the season," said Davis forward Katie Taylor.

For 60 minutes the match possessed all the earmarks of an all-out defensive battle. Goalkeepers Jaime Wilkinson and Carly Hutchings took turns producing saves worthy of any highlight reel.

But Davis finally broke through in the final 20 minutes with a scoring barrage that completely blew Viewmont away.

It started with Kenzie Harrison's goal in the 59th minute.

Taylor pulled up just inside the penalty area and fired the ball perfectly on frame. Hutchings pushed the ball away with her fingertips and it squirted out to the near post. Before the junior could recover and cover it up, Harrison reached the ball first and booted it over Hutchings as she dove to the ground.

"I was just glad she was there to finish it because we worked really hard to get it," Taylor said.

Taylor tacked on a second unassisted goal in the 66th minute when she knocked in the ball on a forward slide. Lexi Dunn capped off the scoring in the 71st minute when she booted a free kick over Viewmont's defensive wall and over Hutchings' head.

Davis had little trouble creating similar scoring chances in the first half, but struggled to get much past Hutchings or the Viking backline. At one point, in the 29th minute, Hutchings stopped a free kick from Jessica Harrison by heading it away right at the post.

"We took 40 minutes to adjust to the turf," Darts coach Souli Phongsavath said. "We never played on it all year. So, in the second half, I said, 'Just relax. You know how to play the game. We're a second-half team in the first place."'

Davis not only adjusted offensively, but kept up the intensity on the defensive end. Viewmont had multiple chances at getting on the board throughout the half. Between frustrating near-misses and saves by Wilkinson, the Vikings came away with little to show for it

Phongsavath is relived the Darts took care of business when they needed to. Now the team can focus on gearing up for the 5A tournament.

"We have two games where we can get healthy and work on some things that we need to work on for the playoff push," Phongsavath said.

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E-mail: jcoon@desnews.com