SLIDESHOW: Ogden vs. Ben Lomond prep boys soccer
OGDEN -- Sometimes it comes down to playing well.
And sometimes it is just the matter of being in the right place at the right time.
For junior defender Clayton Booth, it was both on Friday afternoon.
Facing off with its arch rival, the Ogden High School boys soccer team escaped with a nail-biting 1-0 preseason victory over Ben Lomond, with Booth providing the winning margin via a header in the 46th minute of play.
"We've been trying to get him to come forward on those set pieces and today he did and it proved to be huge for us," Ogden coach Sterling Castle said. "We've still got a lot of work today this season. We've got smart players and talented players; we just need to work on some things."
Booth's game-winner came via a rebound after star striker Alfonso Perea's 25-yard free kick was blocked by the Scots' goalkeeper. The shot ricocheted directly to Booth, who floated the ball off his head from 12 yards out on the left angle into the net for his first goal of the season.
After the tally, the Tigers held on tight.
"Ben Lomond put a lot of pressure on us in the second half," Castle said. "They're going to have a fine season."
Ogden controlled the tempo of play in the first half, but Ben Lomond was able to slow the Tigers down by compacting the field and not giving space to play in.
Following the goal in the second half, Ben Lomond was pretty successful in forcing the game into its tempo and the Scots were rewarded with several quality attacks, including an apparent goal that was negated by a foul on the goal line.
Ogden's defense, despite not completely holding its composure in the second half, played extremely solid against aggressive pressure from Ben Lomond.
Jampier Bruno picked up the shutout in goal, his third in four games this season for the Tigers (3-0-1), who kick off Region 5 action next Friday vs. Logan.
Region 11
* JUDGE MEMORIAL 1, BEAR RIVER 0: At Salt Lake City, the Bears couldn't get a penalty kick to go and were shut out.
2-A North
* ST. JOSEPH 5, LAYTON CHRISTIAN 0: At Ogden, the Jayhawks rolled past their rivals behind two goals from Jake Redden and two goals from Adam Brodstein.
Ty Evans added a goal for St. Joseph, while Mitch Koeler had the shutout in goal. Jayhawks' coach Derek Tate also credited the midfield play of Dino Soto and Kenin Richards.
2-A Central
* CHRISTIAN HERITAGE 3, MERIDIAN 0: At Roy West Park, the Crusaders' Ryan Palo tallied the shutout and Jordan Jones, Tobias Bienz and Levi Koehler each scored for Christian Heritage, now 1-1 on the season.
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