High school boys soccer: Clearfield tops Stansbury in overtime

CLEARFIELD — Friday's boys soccer match was the season opener for the 3A Stansbury Stallions, who traveled to Clearfield High School to take on the 4A Falcons.

The Falcons were coming off a 4-0 win against Morgan, and looked to start the season 2-0. They did just that.

Clearfield overcame a two-goal deficit and knocked off the Stallions 3-2 in OT after Bruce Bitter sent his second goal of the game into the back of the net a few minutes into overtime.

Clearfield had early opportunities, but Stansbury goalkeeper Junior Calderon was not going to let the Falcons score on him at that point. In just the second minute, Calderon dove to save a shot that Ivan Pechetto fired into the net, and just a few minutes later, made two saves in a row that kept the game at 0-0.

Stansbury was able to grab a comfortable lead after Zack Sharp sent a free kick from just over 30 yards out into the upper 90 to make it 1-0 in the 27th minute. Jara Eshete scored an empty netter just three minutes later, and Stansbury led 2-0. The Stallions had the edge on both sides of the ball, but things would change quickly.

Bitter scored in the 37th minute, cutting the Stallion lead to just 2-1. Just a minute later, Julian Valdez found the back of the net for the Falcons, tying the game at 2-apiece. All the momentum was on the Falcons' side heading to halftime, as the Stallions got pushed back on their heels.

Although both teams had a few scoring opportunities in the second half, neither side was able to score, and the teams headed to a 10-minute overtime period.

Stansbury was able to get an early opportunity in the overtime period, as Sharp lined up a free kick from just about the same spot that he scored his goal. He sent it in, but the ball was deflected out of bounds.

Just a couple minutes later, the Falcons pushed the ball up the field, crossed it in, and fired a shot that Calderon saved. However, Bitter was in a perfect spot for the putback, and he sent the ball into the back of the net to give the Falcons a 3-2 victory.

The Falcons move to 2-0 on the season and will face Box Elder next Tuesday. Stansbury drops to 0-1, and will host Ben Lomond on Tuesday.

CJ Pronk is a Deseret Digital Media intern and a senior at Stansbury High School. Follow CJ on Twitter @BigCeeJ3113