Farmington, American Fork each get shootout wins to qualify for 6A title game (2024)

Here’s a recap of the 6A boys soccer state tournament semifinals on Tuesday at Zions Bank Stadium.

Farmington and American Fork advanced to the final.

Farmington 1(4), Pleasant Grove 1(2)

Two years ago, Farmington lost its 6A semifinal to Herriman, which went on to win the 2022 state title.

This year, the Phoenix fought their way back into the semifinal and this time they capitalized with a 4-2 shootout win over Pleasant Grove.

“We’ve not been in this position and it’s kind of new for us,” said Farmington head coach Aaron Soelberg. “We were here two years ago and it didn’t go our way. It almost felt like a replica of two years ago, but we had enough grit, chemistry and moxie to get us through. We’re poised, we’re excited, we don’t care who (the championship) is against, we feel like we’re the best team.”

The Vikings struck first with a header from Golden McMurtrey early in the first half. Farmington answered with a first half goal from Ben Wright to tie the game 1-1.

Neither team broke the tie through the first or second half.

However, a red card was assessed to Farmington after a reckless side tackle and Pleasant Grove was awarded a penalty kick in the 57th minute.

Farmington’s Jaxon Beynon saved the Phoenix from disaster by saving the penalty kick and the shot after the ball ricocheted to keep the game tied.

“I feel confident in our guys, and we just kept our heads high and kept playing,” Beynon said. “I just love our boys playing through it. We really want it. We haven’t been here a lot, we just want it so much and we had so much energy coming into it.”

Even though Farmington was forced to play 10v11, it held Pleasant Grove scoreless throughout the remainder of the second half and through both overtime periods.

The Phoenix knew it had a good chance in a shootout with Beynon in the goal.

“We had a game a few weeks back at Fremont, we were winning the game, but we fouled in the box with nine seconds left and he blocked that ball,” Soelberg said. “Then the next week against Weber he blocked four straight PKs for us to ultimately win the region title.

“He’s been tested so this moment isn’t anything new to him and in fact he embraced it. He loves it, he gets more energized and he’s kind of our superman back there.”

Beynon stepped up for Farmington with two saves in the shootout to take the 4-2 victory and secured a trip to the 6A title game.

“These guys are a band of brothers and they’re sticking together,” Soelberg said. “We were tested many times and one of our key center backs got that red, and I’ve been saying this all season but its just next man up. Roles change maybe, but the philosophy and mental stay the same. We have a great guy between the post. Hats off to Jaxon he’s probably our MVP of the game.”

Farmington will play its first ever state title game on Thursday at America First Field.

“Being tested to this level and knowing you can still get the job done is huge,” said Soelberg. “To be tested this way kind of gives us a bit of a wake up. Today was a new challenge, we knew they were good because their region has a lot of offensive power. Hats off to Pleasant Grove, we just knew if we could grind it to PKs, we had a guy who could save us.”

American Fork 0(6), Bingham 0(5)

It’s been 40 years since American Fork has won a boys soccer championship and the Cavemen will get another chance on Thursday after its 6-5 shootout win over Bingham.

Both the Cavemen and the Miners had multiple chances throughout the game to find the go-ahead goal, but neither was able to find one through either regulation or overtime and the game was destined for a shootout.

The shootout started good for American Fork as Sebastian Barreda got a stop on the first shot and Bingham’s second shot went wide for a 2-0 lead.

Bingham battled back and keeper Riley Whicker got back-to-back stops to tie the shootout at 3-3 and push it to extra shots.

“I think the pressure got to our guys a bit,” said American Fork head coach Casey Waldron. “Knowing that they just had to make one and the game was over. You have to give (Bingham’s) keeper credit. You just have to be confident in where you take your PK and our guys went the way they normally go and (Bingham’s keeper) came up big.”

The shootout kept going back and forth and the shootout was tied 5-5.

Finally, it was American Fork’s Sam Nettesheim that got the sixth goal and Barreda who got another stop to take the 6-5 shootout win.

“As a keeper, in penalties it’s all about confidence,” said Berreda. “You just have to have confidence out there. I love playing soccer and I find PKs very fun. It’s all about your gut. A couple times I second-guessed myself but that last one I listened to my body, read the player’s body position and once you go left you have to go all the way and find the ball.”

With the semifinal win, American Fork will face Farmington on Thursday at America First Field. Waldon said his team hopes to end the 40-year drought.

“We looked in the trophy case and there were 82-83, and 83-84 for back-to-back state champions, but it’s been 40 years this year,” Waldon said. “It’s fitting, 40 years, back in that big game and we’re excited to play Farmington. They’re going to be a handful, but we’re confident in our guys. We’ve been battle tested all year and we feel we have a good chance.”