High school soccer playoffs: Laker offense unloads on Wildcats in 4A

DRAPER — Defense had worked well as Bonneville's primary tool in its successful postseason run before facing Woods Cross in Thursday's 4A state semifinals.

When the Lakers encountered a suddenly resurgent Wildcats offense after holding it in check for 50 minutes, it was time to rummage through the toolbox for a different tool.

What they brought out was an offensive attack that matched the explosiveness presented by Woods Cross. The two teams combined for an astounding seven goals in the final 30 minutes, which ended in a 6-3 Bonneville victory on Thursday afternoon at Juan Diego High.

"Usually it's a couple of goals and then you win," sophomore forward Jaiden Thornock said. "But never so many right after each other."

Thornock scored a hat trick and Allie Shaw chipped in another pair of goals to help the Lakers survive the onslaught. They will face Region 5 rival Bountiful for a third time this season in Saturday's 4A championship game.

Bonneville looked to have things well under control after taking a 2-0 lead into halftime. The Lakers used their speed to set up good looks at the net and limited Woods Cross from getting off clean shots on the other end.

Given its penchant for ball control in previous victories over Orem and East, Bonneville seemed to have the Wildcats contained.

"Our strength, absolutely, is possession," co-head coach Lane Barker said. "And these girls have really good technical skills. On a really good surface that's nice and wide ... our quality comes out in that situation."

Everything changed in the 51st minute when the Wildcats' Shae Fernandes corralled a ball in the middle of a scrum in the goalmouth and cut the Lakers' lead in half.

The Lakers responded quickly. Thornock got loose on the breakaway and took it all the way in to make it 3-1 a minute later. But the Wildcats came right back. A corner kick was swung into Kendra Pemberton. The junior got her head under the ball and knocked it in the net to narrow Bonneville's lead to 3-2.

It felt like a crazy sequence and things only grew wilder. A weak clearance attempt put the ball at Shaw's feet in the 58th minute. Shaw split two defenders and uncorked a high-arcing shot. The ball hit the crossbar and broke the plane before bouncing out onto the line, making it 4-2.