For the third time this season, two crosstown rivals will meet on the soccer pitch. But this contest will be much more important. 

Viewmont and Woods Cross will face one another on Thursday in the first round of the Class 5A state tournament. As the No. 11 seed, Viewmont will be the home team against the 22nd-seeded Wildcats. 

The two meetings in the regular season were both 1-0 decisions, with each team winning once at home. Viewmont won the March 29 clash, while Woods Cross got revenge when the two teams met April 30. The Vikings placed fourth in Region 5 with an 8-6 mark; Woods Cross was sixth at 5-9. The winner of the first-round game will advance to play at fellow Region 5 foe Box Elder on May 14 in the second round. 

Viewmont ended the season by splitting its last two games. 

The Vikings fell at Roy, 2-1 on May 3. Owen Hughes got a first-half goal for Viewmont, but the team couldn’t get the tying score. Two days later, however, the Vikings took care of Clearfield at home by the count of 3-1. Ashton Simpkins, Nathan Low and Hughes each scored for the Vikings. Sam Vanderlinden and Carson Lindquist assisted on goals. 

By the end of the regular season, Jacob Ramos led the team in scoring with nine goals. Nathan Pitt, Low and Vanderlinden each had three. Zach Andersen and Low were the leaders in assists with three each. 

As for Woods Cross, the Wildcats lost their final two regular-season games, both by one goal. The Wildcats came up short at Northridge on May 3, falling 2-1. Gage Gardner scored off an assist by Zach Despain in the second half, but it wasn’t enough. On May 7, Box Elder outlasted Woods Cross 3-2 on the Wildcats’ home field. In a losing cause, Woods Cross got both of its goals in the first half. 

Bountiful

The Redhawks placed third in Region 5 with a 9-5 record. The team finished the regular season on a good note with a pair of wins. 

Bountiful blanked Clearfield 2-0 on May 3, followed by a 1-0 shutout of Bonneville on May 7. Goalkeeper Nash McReynolds played well in both contests, getting the shutout credit. Thomas Thorne and Cody Forbes assisted on one another’s goals in the Clearfield win. Thorne then scored off a second-half assist from Giona Weston in the victory over Bonneville. 

Bountiful heads into the playoffs with Thorne leading the way in both goals and assists. The senior has had a big year, compiling eight goals and six assists on the season. Forbes had five goals in the regular season, with Trent Millard and Elias Pacheco scoring four times. 

The Redhawks host Cyprus on Thursday in the first round of the playoffs. A victory there would take the Redhaws to the second round where they would play at Brighton. Last season, Bountiful defeated Northridge in the first round of the 5A state tournament and then lost in a shootout to Murray in the second round.