Boys soccer claims second place at State
Jun 15, 2023 10:03AM ● By Liisa London Mecham
In the final two games of the season, the MHS boys’ soccer team played the top two teams in 3A in the semifinal and championship matches. In the semis, they took down the #1 seeded Ogden Tigers, a team they hadn’t beaten since 2008, advancing with a 1-1 win on penalty kicks. In the finals, against the #2 seed, Juan Diego, Morgan played exceptionally well but fell 0-1 to the Soaring Eagle.
In the semifinal game, Morgan faced Ogden, their Region 13 foe, to whom they had lost two times this season. But Morgan would not be denied a third time. After regulation, two overtimes and five penalty kicks, the Trojans finally emerged victorious 1(6)-1(5) on PKs. Jett Beckstrom scored the lone goal for Morgan, and Brayden Howe and Garrett Henderson split goalie duties with Henderson in the goal for the second half and penalty kicks.
In the championship game, the Trojans took on the Juan Diego Soaring Eagle. In a hard-fought defensive matchup, Morgan fell just short 0-1 as Juan Diego’s Hauroa Morgant, a senior from Tahiti who broke the Utah record for most goals scored in a season by a single player, scored the only goal of the game late in the first half. Morgant finished the season with 45 goals surpassing the old record of 43 set in 2014.
In the second half, both teams played hard defensively and stymied the offensive efforts of each other. Unable to score, Morgan fell 0-1 and took their seventh loss on the season.
With an 11-7 overall record and 5-3 Region 13 record, the Trojans learned a lot from each game and improved every time they played. Their thrilling victory over Odgen in their third matchup of the season points to the ability of the team to learn and adjust. Morgan bettered their #4 seed and came very close to bringing home Morgan’s first ever boys’ soccer title.
Congratulations to the Morgan High Trojans on their excellent soccer season!λ
