SANDY — Dixie hadn’t given up a goal, much less the lead in a game, in a long, long time. Friday the Lady Flyers did both. And they still won.
Trailing most of the game, Dixie scored a late second-half goal and then won the game on penalty kicks 4-1 over Park City to send the Flyers to Saturday’s state championship game against Juan Diego (4 p.m. at Rio Tinto Stadium).
Finess White hit a 40-yarder just out of the reach of leaping Park City goalkeeper Hannah Hyatt to erase a 1-0 deficit and help Dixie send the game into overtime. Neither team could find the back of the net in the two overtimes, forcing the game into a shootout.
The PKs began with Dixie’s Aubri Challis pounding one in for a 1-0 advantage. Park City’s first shot hit the cross bar and bounced harmlessly away. Alexa Estridge made it 2-0 Dixie, but Park City scored to keep it close. At 2-1, the Flyers got a booming score from Alexa Bernabe to go up by two. DHS keeper Liz Empey then put the Flyers on the brink of victory with a denial on the next Miners shot. Elle Roberts then calmly stepped up and nailed the game-winner to set off the Dixie celebration.
Dixie has not lost a match since Aug. 16 and had only given up one goal in the month of October. The 15-2-2 Flyers play at 4 p.m. at Rio Tinto. Their opponent, Juan Diego, is 11-4-3. The Soaring Eagle knocked out defending-champion Snow Canyon 2-0 in the quarterfinals and downed Cedar 1-0 Friday evening.
The victory over the Lady Reds was not easy as Juan Diego scored the only goal of the match with just four minutes left on the clock. Emily Pascua hit the game-winner, notching her team-leading ninth goal of the year.
The Soaring Eagle went 7-0-1 in Region 10, finishing just ahead of Park City. JD beat the Miners 2-1 and also tied them this season.
Juan Diego averaged 2.4 goals per game this year, while surrendering 1.6 per game. By comparison, Dixie is scoring 3.4 per game while giving up just 0.8 goals per outing.
The two teams have not met since 2011, when Juan Diego eliminated Dixie from the playoffs in the first round, 3-1.
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