4A high school soccer: Long-injured Wildcat helps Woods Cross advance

OREM — It took all of regulation, and then some, for Woods Cross to put away Orem 2-1 in the first round of the 4A girls' state soccer playoffs Tuesday afternoon. The Wildcats scored a goal late in overtime to salt the win and move on to play another day.

"It could have gone either way," said Woods Cross coach Kevin Rigby. "Orem is a good team but our girls fought hard and they played hard and they earned the win."

In the closing minutes of the overtime period Kendra Pemberton, who has missed most of the season with a broken toe on her right foot, sent a corner kick bending toward the Tigers' goal. After several Orem players cleared the ball it came right back to Pemberton who proceeded to square up and bang it home for the winning score from nearly 30-yards out. The Woods Cross bench cleared onto the field while the Tigers' players collapsed from exhaustion and disappointment.

The Tigers (9-3, 12-5) set the tone early in the first half with aggressive play that resulted in several near misses. Orem's shots-on-goal began to mount up and it appeared that the Tigers were going to control possession for much of the game. A shot flew over the cross bar off the foot of Kristen Bodine and another ball hit the bar after forward Marissa Pay took her stab at getting Orem an early goal.

Just as quickly as the Tigers set the pace, Woods Cross (8-4, 12-4) turned the tide and began to settle into its offensive attack. A cross by Pemberton in front of Orem keeper Hilary Smith found the foot of Wildcat forward Taryn Rose, who nudged the ball into the back of the net to give Woods Cross an early first-half goal.

Playing with the lead the Wildcats went into defensive mode for much of the second half. Dropping defenders, Woods Cross held the Tigers scoreless until late in the second half. Orem, on a corner kick, got the look it needed as Maggie Plothow raised up and knocked a header between the pipes to knot the score at 1-1.

Several minutes later the whistle blew, signifying the end of regulation giving the Tigers another chance at completing the come-from-behind win as the teams headed for the golden-goal overtime period. Nevertheless, it was Pemberton, playing in her first game back from injury that connected on the long ball to give her team the 2-1 win in overtime.

"As Kendra goes, so goes the season." Rigby said. "It was a storybook ending for her."