3A playoffs: Esquivel’s golden-goal penalty clinches satisfying win for Ogden boys soccer
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- Ogden High boys soccer players celebrate Gerardo Esquievel’s (10) game-winning goal against Judge Memorial in the 3A state quarterfinals on Saturday, May 6, 2023.
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- Ogden High boys soccer players celebrate Gerardo Esquievel’s (10) game-winning goal against Judge Memorial in the 3A state quarterfinals on Saturday, May 6, 2023.
OGDEN — One year ago, Ogden High’s boys soccer team looked on as Judge Memorial celebrated a golden goal in a fiery 3A state quarterfinal that ended the Tigers’ season on their home field.
It was a bitter feeling — “devastating,” as OHS coach Todd Scott called it. Afterward, one of the team’s seniors posted on social media about how the next season would be the team’s “villain arc,” which is one way to describe someone bouncing back from failure.
On Saturday in the 3A state quarterfinals, the two teams met again. The game was fiery, again.
This time, Ogden’s moving on.
Gerardo Esquievel won a penalty kick in the fourth minute of extra time and sent it past Judge goalkeeper Kolby Sessions for a golden-goal winner that gave the No. 1-seeded Tigers a 3-2 victory.
Esquievel ran with his teammates to the sideline, took his shirt off and then got mobbed.
“I never feel this in my life, I felt excited to … help my team in the quarterfinals and score the last goal, it’s amazing,” said Esquievel, a sophomore. “It’s special for my senior teammates because it’s their last year and we want to do that for them, and for all the people to come to support us. And this is my family, and I love being here.”
The win secured Ogden a spot in next week’s semifinal against region rival Morgan, scheduled for 10 a.m. Wednesday, May 10, at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman. It also served as redemption.
“This is our villain arc, that’s just something that we decided in our little group chats. This year, it’s a villain arc. We’ve just got to do our thing, and it was good to see these guys again, got that sweet, sweet revenge. This win just feels so much better than anything,” junior defender Lincoln Barnes said.
The win also brought relief to the Tigers, the No. 1 seed in this year’s state tournament after an 11-1 regular season and their first region championship since 2016. They know how close they were to a possible upset loss instead.
“Overtime is scary. You’ve got the golden goal and it was just nice to get it over with in five minutes,” Barnes said.
Ogden scored in the third minute of the match when Luis Velasco cashed in from close range. Judge leveled in the 24th minute before Ben Points’ penalty kick made it 2-1 at halftime.
Judge controlled the early part of the second half, scored to make it 2-2 and looked the more likely team to grab a game-winner. The Tigers had several chances from set pieces in the final 20 minutes of the game, but Sessions rebuffed each one.
“These playoffs, nothing’s given. No one cares about your record, it’s one of those go-home, do-or-die situations. Hats off to (Judge), but my boys were resilient and finished it. I’m proud of them,” Scott said.
After a red card reduced Judge to 10 players early in extra time, Esquievel was tripped by a defender in the penalty box, the referee pointed to the spot, Sessions protested by imitating a player flopping and then Esquievel scored.
With the game — and maybe the season — on the line, Esquievel said he wasn’t nervous.
“My mind’s clear, yeah. I feel like I have ice in my blood,” he said.
Contrasting scenes then played out on the field, with Ogden’s celebration on one side and Judge’s protests on the other, where one player was shown a red card and two more had to be physically restrained from the referee.
One year from now, the teams may yet meet again. If they do, a fiery encounter will be in the cards.
MORGAN 5, CARBON 1
In another 3A quarterfinal Saturday, Ty Warner scored two goals to send No. 4 Morgan (10-6) to next week’s 3A state semifinal against Ogden.
Jett Beckstrom, Beau Johnson and Sam Edwards scored one goal each for the Trojans. Nate Wallace, Cameron Burt and Nathan Haws assisted one goal each.
DIXIE 2, LAYTON CHRISTIAN 1
No. 1 Layton Christian was upset in the 4A quarterfinals by No. 8 Dixie. The Eagles end the season with a 9-3 record.
Connect with reporter Patrick Carr via email at pcarr@standard.net, Twitter @patrickcarr_ and Instagram @standardexaminersports.