High school boys soccer: No. 1 Farmington books second semifinal trip in three years with 2-0 win

FARMINGTON — The No. 1 team in 6A rolled onward as Farmington remained thoroughly in control for nearly all of a 2-0 win over No. 8 Skyridge to advance to its second trip in three seasons to the 6A state championship tournament semifinals at Zions Bank Stadium.

Two goals in less than three minutes ultimately decided the match as Skyridge was handed just its second shutout loss of the season. Ironically, the first one was also to Farmington back in the third game of the year.

Meanwhile, the Phoenix have yet to be scored on during the playoffs after shutting out Layton, 3-0, last Tuesday. In doing so, they avenged their only loss of the year.

The chance of a trip to Zions Bank Stadium was clearly on everyone’s mind, and they played like it as fiery, physical, yellow-card-inviting play dominated the first half.

“There’s a lot on the line, and there’s a lot to play for, and these guys want it bad,” Farmington head coach Aaron Soelberg said. “Keeping yourself levelheaded at times is a challenge.”

Most of the first 20 minutes went back and forth without much event, but Farmington sophomore goalkeeper Jaxon Beynon made an unwise dive to secure the ball with 26:31 in the first half, charging into the legs of Falcons senior midfielder Mason Rollins.

Skyridge stood with a golden chance to put pressure on the highly favored home team early with a penalty kick, but when Rollins took a rolling shot at the left side, Beynon delivered himself instant redemption, saving the would-be icebreaker to keep the game at a scoreless tie.

At the 10:57 mark of the first half, Farmington broke the stalemate when sophomore Jack Burrup aided senior forward Chase Ashby on a cross inside the goal box. Ashby delivered a close-range strike into the net for just his second goal of the season.

It didn’t take long for the Phoenix’s momentum swing to deliver greater reward. Just over two minutes after, with 8:23 remaining, senior Cole Janke collected the ball on the right side from a defender, raced toward the goal and fired into the left side, burying it for a 2-0 lead.

Scoring microbursts seem to be the key for Farmington after two quick goals put the Phoenix ahead in the second round beforehand.

“We struggled, and then all of a sudden, it’s like the lid comes off the bottle and it just pours,” Soelberg said. “We just had to stay patient. We really do. We have to stick to strategy, stick to what we are and what we like to do. … If we do, eventually, things will work out for us.”

With firm control of the game, Farmington began turning the Falcons’ fatigue against them, taking over on time of possession and pressuring Skyridge’s back line relentlessly.

In fact, the only thing that could have possibly bothered Soelberg about the second half effort was that the score stayed where it was despite numerous opportunities to pull away.

“We probably wanted to put at least one or two in if not more,” Soelberg said.

The Phoenix face the winner of tonight’s match between No. 4 Pleasant Grove and No. 12 Davis on Tuesday at 1:30 p.m.