Rising to become the team’s leading scorer with 13 goals a year ago, Beckstrom chased down the big prize by netting 21 goals during his senior season to establish the school’s latest single-season scoring record.

Two years earlier, he wasn’t even on the varsity roster.

Morgan coach Seth Wallace watched Beckstrom’s playmaking ability surface during his junior season and slowly couple with leadership during preseason training in January.

“He expected full commitment in practice from everybody,” Wallace said. “That was a big moment for me to see the leadership part was there. I wasn’t sure where that would go last year, but (this year) he definitely stepped up.”

BRIAN NICHOLSON, Special to the Standard-Examiner

Morgan, with a 14-3 finish as the Region 13 runner-up, leaned on Beckstrom right down to a 1-0 loss to 3A state champion Ogden in the semifinal round.

Beckstrom is the 2024 Standard-Examiner All-Area Boys Soccer Player of the Year.

Soccer shaped Beckstrom’s earliest years. His parents both played at Layton High and all three of his sisters took to the game while in school. Naturally, Beckstrom was in for a surprise going from the first kid picked at recess to the JV squad during a “letdown” freshman season at Morgan.

Morgan tabbed Wallace to lead its soccer program ahead of the 2020-21 season amidst the coronavirus pandemic. A family friend, Wallace ended up giving Beckstrom the perspective he needed to stick with high school soccer.

“My attitude kind of shifted,” Beckstrom said. “My perspective for him — especially during soccer season, and once I started to play varsity it got way closer — he’d always pull me aside and point out other things that older boys were doing and recommend what I needed to do to help them through my game.”

CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner

Lettering his junior year, Beckstrom captured the attention of his coaches and teammates during an 11-7 ride to the state championship match, which the Trojans dropped 1-0 to Juan Diego Catholic.

Wallace said it was during that thrilling campaign he noticed Beckstrom’s ability not only to read his teammates, but the flow of the game itself.

“He had the mentality to finish and score in big moments,” Wallace said. “As a senior, he took it to another level.”

Beckstrom averaged 1.5 goals per match during his senior strut with Morgan. Senior teammate Beau Johnson, who led 3A with 15 assists and is Morgan’s all-time single-season assist leader, played a key role in pushing Beckstrom toward his single-season scoring feat.

“He was a just assist after assist kind of guy,” Beckstrom said. “He was perfect … Probably half of my goals he was involved in if he didn’t assist them.”

Morgan’s team captain, senior Garrett Grow, also shared a warm trust with Beckstrom. Grow and the Trojans elected Beckstrom as co-captain for nearly every regular-season match this spring.

Beckstrom’s senior season was important to his team, too.

“That says a ton to me that they all looked up to him and that he was kind of their captain,” Wallace said.

“(Wallace) knew my goals,” Beckstrom said. “He knew all the goals of his players. We always sit down and talk about our goals with coaches, and he would do everything in his power to help that goal be accomplished.”

Beckstrom plans to study business and marketing at BYU this fall.

Connect with prep sports reporter Conner Becker via email at cbecker@standard.net and X @ctbecker.