While high school students can taste the end of the school year and the arrival of summer, spring sports athletes are taking part in the most important part of the season: the playoffs. 

The Bountiful boys soccer team has reached the quarterfinals, thanks to a pair of close 3-2 wins in the Class 5A tournament. The Redhawks, 9-5 in the regular season and third-place finishers in Region 5, earned the No. 9 seed. 

In its first-round game on May 10, the Redhawks had a tougher-than-expected challenge from No. 24 Cyprus. Playing at home, Bountiful outlasted the Region 4 Pirates in overtime. Incidentally, it took a trio of successful penalty kicks for Bountiful to prevail. Thomas Thorne, Elias Pacheco and Cody Forbes converted their kicks in the win. 

That victory sent the Redhawks to the second round on the road on May 14 to face Region 6’s third-place team, Brighton. Bountiful was tied with the eighth-seeded Bengals at halftime but outscored them 2-1 in the second half. Forbes had two of Bountiful’s three goals, while Thorne scored the other one. Trent Millard had two assists in the big victory. 

Now one of eight teams in the playoffs remaining, the Redhawks have a tough task on Friday at No. 1 seed Wasatch. 

Meanwhile, Woods Cross and Viewmont clashed in the first round on May 10. After splitting the two regular-season games, the third matchup went the Wildcats’ way in a mild upset. The Wildcats were seeded 22nd facing the 11th-seed Vikings on Viewmont’s home field. 

Like the other two meetings, this one was a close 1-0 decision. 

Zach Despain scored off an Adrien Jenet assist in the second half to break a scoreless halftime tie. Brayden Lloyd got the shutout in the goal, his second of the season. For Viewmont, the defeat ended its season with a 7-7 record. 

The Wildcats moved on – once again against a familiar foe. 

On May 14, Woods Cross took on sixth-seeded Box Elder, a Region 5 opponent it lost to twice during the season, including once just a week earlier, 3-2. In another upset, the Wildcats prevailed, this time in a shootout after regulation and two overtimes couldn’t decide the result. 

And the Wildcats did it in comeback fashion. 

Woods Cross allowed two goals in the first half to find itself down 2-0 at the break. But Lloyd and Sam Yost scored in the second half, with Despain and Gage Gardner getting assists. Woods Cross kept Box Elder off the board in the second half, sending the contest to overtime. Neither team scored in two extra periods, so a shootout would be the deciding factor. There, Woods Cross made four penalty kicks to three for Box Elder. 

On Friday, the Wildcats will see if they can keep the magical run going. Woods Cross now plays at No. 3 seed Salem Hills in the quarterfinals for the right to advance to the semifinals. A win there would pit the Wildcats against the winner of Roy and East on May 20.