Girls soccer: 3A and 2A quarterfinal predictions

If you’re a soccer fan, you couldn’t help enjoy seeing some dramatic finishes in Thursday’s 4A and 5A quarterfinal games.

How about Bonneville taking down a second straight higher seed on its home field? The Lakers first knocked out Orem, the defending 4A champs, and followed up with an incredible shootout win over East. They are a source of inspiration to underdog teams everywhere with their postseason run. Logic says they can’t keep going for two more games, but I don’t see why not. The Leopards and the Tigers both were both good defensive teams and legit title contenders. Woods Cross should be feeling a little nervous right now.

Brighton’s victory over Davis offered its own dramatic finish in the 5A tournament. Davis made an incredible last-minute rally with a nice header from Katie Taylor to force overtime. Then it all came crashing down a minute into the extra session when a ball bounced off Lexi Dunn for the decisive own goal. You had to feel bad for Dunn, who was absolutely crushed by that turn of events. She played a fantastic game up to that point and had a nice lob pass to set up Taylor on the second-half equalizer. The Darts have plenty of young talent and will be in a good position to defend their region title in 2009. In the meantime, what a great victory for the Bengals. I had doubts about Brighton after they slipped to the no. 3 slot in Region 2. But the Bengals are again showing the dominant form that made them a top-five team earlier in the season. Kudos to Jessica Ringwood for her clutch performance on offense.

Now onto my 3A and 2A picks. I’m 15-1 in my last 16 soccer games. My only trip-up came with the Davis-Brighton game. Right final score. Wrong winner. Here are Saturday’s predictions:

3A:

Morgan at Park City: I saw the Trojans play once during the preseason and thought they were a pretty solid team. Morgan went 2-1 against Region 10 in the preseason, but Park City offers the stiffest challenge yet. The Miners have strung together a 12 game unbeaten streak since a 1-3-1 start. This is the team’s first meeting since Morgan moved to Region 11. History is not on the Trojans’ side. They have lost their last four games vs. Park City by a combined score of 36-2.

Prediction: Park City 5, Morgan 2

Waterford at Canyon View: The Ravens have talked about ending the season in authoritative fashion if this is to be their final season in 3A. Their title quest is off to a good start with a first round thrashing of Salem Hills. Can Canyon View snuff out those championship dreams? Only if they can slow down Waterford’s offense. I don’t see it happening. Waterford went 3-0 vs. Region 9 teams in the preseason.

Prediction: Waterford 3, Canyon View 1

Judge Memorial at Logan: This presents an interesting contrast of styles. The Grizzlies have won nine straight games and given up two goals in that stretch. Judge, on the other hand, has scored 19 goals in its last three games and averages 3.8 goals per game. But the Grizzlies are no slouch on offense either. Cami Jensen is third among 3A scorers with 20 goals. Based on all they bring to the table, Logan has a slight edge in this one.

Prediction: Logan 2, Judge 0

Bear River at Juan Diego: The Soaring Eagle feel like a team of destiny after seeing how they rallied to beat Wasatch. Juan Diego already beat Region 11 champion Logan earlier this season. How will they fare against Bear River? Really good, I expect. The Bears lost to the state’s other Catholic high schools ‘ St. Joseph and Judge ‘ by identical 6-1 scores in the preseason. Look for the Soaring Eagle to complete the sweep.

Prediction: Juan Diego 6, Bear River 1

2A:

Manti at Rowland Hall: The Winged Lions have endured their share of bumps and bruises this season. Injuries at key positions and massive inexperience would derail seasons for just about any team. But to the credit of coach Jaime Wilhite, she has kept her young team together and they are in a good position to mount a defense of their 2A title. Manti is still in the building stages with its program and might take a few lumps with this one.

Prediction: Rowland Hall 4, Manti 1

South Summit at Beaver: The Wildcats’ run to the 2A semifinals in 2007 was one of the better underdog stories in a long time. They started fielding soccer teams back during my high school days up in Kamas and that was definitely the biggest moment in a decade of soccer there. Can South Summit put it together for another such run? Probably not. Beaver is 11-2 in its last 13 games, losing only to Millard. This pick will probably guarantee me getting banned from future high school reunions.

Prediction: Beaver 6, South Summit 2

South Sevier at Millard: From what I’ve seen so far, it doesn’t look like the Eagles have skipped a beat from the ’07 crew that reached the 2A title game before suffering their only loss in heart wrenching fashion. Millard has won 14 straight while averaging 7.4 goals per game. Three Eagle players have 19 goals or more ‘ led by Jessica Wall with 25. Did I mention Millard beat the Rams twice by a combined score of 11-0 this year?

Prediction: Millard 5, South Sevier 0

Gunnison at St. Joseph: I’m impressed with the Bulldogs’ rise. Gunnison lost 21 of its first 22 soccer games before winning for the first time in school history against Richfield. Winning has been contagious. The Bulldogs are 6-3 in their last nine and have won four straight. That streak will probably end in Ogden. The Jayhawks have too many weapons on offense for Gunnison to handle. One question is nagging me. Is it really necessary for St. Joseph to repeatedly beat overmatched teams by double digit margins? I’m all for playing hard 80 minutes, but compassion should trump stats at some point.

Prediction: St. Joseph 9, Gunnison 1

What are your predictions for these games? E-mail them to me or post them below.