High school 4A soccer: Defense carries Woods Cross to victory

WOODS CROSS — The popular cliche states that defense wins championships. That statement rang true for the Woods Cross High School boys soccer team on Wednesday, as the Wildcats shut down East High School 3-1 in the first round of the 4A State Championships.

"They (East) are a heck of a team," said Woods Cross coach Kevin Rigby, "but we've been a strong defense all year and they stepped it up and held it steady today."

The Leopards controlled the tempo of the game early, as Woods Cross had a hard time controlling the ball. The Wildcats had a few opportunities in front of the net but couldn't manage to center a clean shot until 17 minutes into the game, when forward Ryan Checketts sank a header into the corner of the net off a throw-in from midfielder Tyler Dodd.

Neither team took control of midfield for the remainder of the first half, but East finally got on the board in the 26th minute, as Leopard forward Pedro Vasconcuelos drilled in a goal on a free kick, tying the game up at 1-1. The score was the last the Leopards would see for the remainder of the game.

In the first half's final minutes, East took control of midfield and charged into Woods Cross territory often, but the Wildcat defense dug in, turning away several shot attempts from Leopard Willy Lokiru, including a misfire on an open charge with only the Woods Cross goalkeeper to beat.

In the second half, East carried over its up-tempo pace from the end of the first half, firing several shots-on-goal in the first two minutes, but a heads-up save by Woods Cross defender Shawn Carey on an awkward shot gave the Wildcats back the momentum they needed.

Less than five minutes later, Wildcat forward Kyler Caldwell scored off a crafty assist from Carey, handing Woods Cross a 2-1 lead.

"We saw that we were not winning midfield in the first half," Rigby said. "Try as we may, they were beating us to the ball in there. In the second half we decided to bypass midfield and get it out to the wings to get quick penetration and it worked."

Woods Cross began to run away with the game in the 12th minute of the second half, as Wildcat midfielder Zach Cope dropped a floater over the East goalkeeper's head, shortly after snagging the ball away from a Leopard defender, increasing his team's lead to 3-1.

The Leopards continued to fight back throughout the rest of the game, out-shooting Woods Cross 7-2 in the game's final 10 minutes, including several shots from Lokiru, but shut-down defense from the Wildcats continued to be the story of the day, as they held on for the win.

"They pushed a man forward, so they had an extra guy up on us," Rigby said, "but I swear we had so many great saves off the line in the box, and boy did that pay off for us."