LEHI — With the start of the 2009 soccer playoffs came plenty of intense action on the field, especially on the Lehi fields between the favored Lehi Pioneers and the visiting Olympus Titans.

The underdog Titans came out strong in the first half and actually took a lead into halftime before the Pioneers put their game together for the strong comeback 3-2 victory in the first round of the 4A playoffs.

Olympus took the lead midway through the first half on a nifty little kick by Savannah Spere on a break, and they led all the way through the whistle to mark halftime.

"It was a beautiful goal," Olympus coach Patrick Healey said of the first score of the game. His team spent most of its time on the Lehi half of the field through the first 40 minutes, forcing the action while the Pioneers were back on their heels.

The Titans had plenty of opportunities to extend the lead too as they misfired on seven corner kicks in the first half alone.

"It's too bad we didn't score on more of those, but we're a young team and we'll be back," said Healey after his team suffered the loss.

But the Pioneers came out of their halftime conversation strong and with plenty of aggressiveness, which their coach felt was missing throughout the first half.

"They pinned us down in the first half. We were having problems with the zone and went to a 3-5-2 in the second half," said Lehi coach Brett Bergholm, who believed the change really helped his team gain some momentum to help win the game.

Lehi's MaKelle Yates put it straight in off a penalty kick to tied things up only three minutes into the second half. Then a mere six minutes later, the Pioneers took advantage of the wind and a nice break with a kick into the goal from straight on my Jessica Vanderhoef.

"She was just staying with the play and had great hustle. She was being relentless, doing what a forward should do. She was in a zone today," said Bergholm about his forward, who finished with two goals, including the game-winner.

But after Lehi grabbed hold of the 2-1 lead, the Titans still refused to give up and evened the game on a score by Marci Castillo, who slid one right past the goalie and threatened to send the match into extra time.

"I liked our resilience and the maturity we showed. I was proud of the way the seniors led and didn't give up. They really stuck with it and showed a lot of courage today," added Bergholm.

And the Pioneers finally got their break with 10 minutes of game time remaining when Tasha Price took a shot on goal, which the goalie was able to save. But the shot and save gave Lehi time to get into good position, and in the ensuing chaos, Vanderhoef shot it in to give the Pioneers the victory in the first round and a trip to the 4A quarterfinals.

e-mail: jolsen@desnews.com