In a single-elimination tournament, every win is big. The Bountiful boys soccer team reaped the rewards of its first-round victory and advanced to the second round of the Class 5A state playoffs. 

The Redhawks, seeded 17th in 5A after placing last in Region 5, defeated 16th-seeded Jordan from Region 8 to make it to the second round for the second year in a row. Bountiful blanked Jordan 2-0 on May 14 in a road game and faced top-seeded Provo on Tuesday, after our press deadline. 

Against Jordan, the Redhawks notched their fifth win of the season by scoring both goals in the second half. Max Barlow and Jackson Wersland found the back of the net for Bountiful. Goalie Parker Hayford recorded his third shutout of the season. 

Bountiful almost didn’t get the chance to participate in the playoffs.

On May 12, the Redhawks, 3-12 in the regular season, had a tournament play-in game at East. After a scoreless regulation, Bountiful’s overtime goal secured it a berth in the playoffs. 

Woods Cross

The Wildcats were seeded 21st after getting to the tournament by winning their own play-in game. Woods Cross defeated Springville 2-1 on May 12.

That win was Woods Cross’ ninth of the season. It saw Michael Williams and Josh Tibbitts record goals. By winning, Woods Cross qualified to face fellow Region 5 foe Northridge in the first round. Woods Cross went 1-2 against the Knights, tri-champs of the region, during the regular season. Both games were decided by a single goal. 

The same thing happened on May 14 when the two teams met at Northridge to open the playoffs. 

A second-half Northridge goal did in the Wildcats. Woods Cross couldn’t find the back of the net in the contest, ending its season at 9-10. 

Viewmont

The Vikings tied Northridge and Bonneville for the Region 5 title with a 6-4 record. They were 8-7 overall heading into the playoffs. 

Viewmont was seeded 19th and drew 14th-seeded Orem in the first round. Playing on Orem’s home field, the Vikings struggled on defense, allowing four goals in a 4-2 defeat. Viewmont scored in each half, but Orem had two goals in both halves to secure the win. It was the third-straight opening-round playoff loss for the Vikings, who last advanced in the state tournament in 2018 when they fell in overtime to Alta in the 5A state title game. 

Davis and Farmington

Solid regular seasons in a tough region earned both Davis and Farmington first-round byes in the Class 6A state tournament. 

Davis went 10-4 overall and 8-4 in league play, good enough for third place. Farmington was 11-5 overall and 7-5 in region games. Still, Davis secured the fifth seed, and Farmington grabbed seed No. 6. Both squads got to sit out the first round and had second-round home games. 

Davis hosted 12th-seeded Fremont on Tuesday, and Farmington drew 11th-seeded Riverton at home. Both contests were after our press deadline. Farmington beat fellow Region 1 opponent Fremont 2-1 on March 23. Fremont returned the favor in the rematch on April 20 by the count of 3-2. The road team won on both occasions. λ