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Syracuse celebrates a goal against Davis during the 6A state girls soccer semifinals on Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025, at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman.

CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner

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Syracuse's Taylee Hughes rifles off a free kick against Davis during the 6A state girls soccer semifinals on Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025, at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman.

CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner

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HERRIMAN — Syracuse is headed back to the 6A state girls soccer championship to face top seed Lone Peak for its first title-match appearance since 2017.

The No. 2 Titans endured a late punch by forward Kate Willard and No. 11 Davis for a third postseason win Tuesday, prevailing 2-1 at Zions Bank Stadium.

The deepest run of the Jason Steiner era at Syracuse (18-3) includes a region rehash with last year’s state runner-up Darts (11-8), who made quite the postseason run after winning just one of their final seven regular-season matches.

But Davis failed to overturn a 1-0 halftime deficit, and a brief 2-0 mark produced by Syracuse senior forward Taylee Hughes on a fortuitous free kick midway through the second half. That set the stage for the Titans to make history — the kind the program hasn’t seen since much of its roster were in elementary school.

“Our defense held them up,” Hughes said. “Davis always does good and, even though they’re an (No. 11) seed, we knew they had some really good forwards. We knew how they made it this far, and we had to do the whole thing if we wanted to go to (America First Field).”

Syracuse seemingly won every possession battle through the opening stretch, and senior forward Indy Heap soon struck the net for an early 1-0 lead with 22 minutes of first-half soccer left to be played. But it would end up being as good a chance as the Titans earned all half.

Settling in and finally pushing the other way, Davis junior forward Samantha Maudsley uncovered a wide gap left of Bott, but an offside whistle blew the possession dead. A week ago, Maudsley delivered the decisive goal at No. 3 Farmington to reach the semifinals.

Davis disrupted everything the Titans dug up for themselves late in the half, including a close-range look by Syracuse junior Talia Thompson that was swept away by Davis junior Courtney Burbidge, and two Titans’ free kicks from juniors Jocee Eddy and Carlie Hobbs.

Syracuse senior goalkeeper Erin Bott denied multiple Davis looks in the second half, but perhaps none more important than two by the senior’s gloves coming in the first 20 minutes. Hughes soon reciprocated those efforts with the second goal, coming on a 20-plus-yard free kick that took a generous bounce off the crossbar to evade Davis senior keeper Kaitlyn Harris.

From the sideline, Steiner watched as the advice he’d imparted on many such scenarios before went in an all-too literal direction when Hughes’ boot slammed into the top of the crossbar, drove into the dirt and wheeled itself backward into the goal before a defender’s reach.

“I just wanted her to hit it on frame so the keeper has to make a save, so she literally hit on frame — I didn’t mean that,” Steiner said. “We’ve been working on trying to get this, the free kicks, and one finally paid off.”

Willard’s near-immediate response, sneaking the first goal past Syracuse keeper Bott in three postseason matches, sent a jolt of life into the Davis sideline with 16 minutes left; Syracuse’s job was certainly far from over.

Bott’s shutout streak ended with Willard’s goal, but she’d stand firmly in the way of repeated Davis chances. In the end, the senior produced a 3-2 overtime win, a 1-0 shutout in Kaysville, and a 2-1 state semifinal stand against Davis in her senior season.

The chances dried up, and Davis second-year coach Dillon Richens summed it up best.

“It’s easy to say we should’ve played the whole game the way we played the last 20 minutes, but it’s a game of momentum,” Richens said. “We had chances to tie it up, and so ultimately the team that took its chances is the team that ends up winning it all.”

Even with a fourth-place region finish, Davis clawed back to the state semifinals for a second consecutive season with a roster full of varsity newcomers and seniors starting for the first time. Richens commended his team’s late-season run and the lessons learned in the process.

“When things are hard, you either break apart or you come together,” Richens said. “I think they were sick of losing and became more of a team. They were fighting for each other, and that’s why I’m pleased with the season. It’s about being a team and having each other’s back. I think they learned that lesson kind of the hard way.”

Syracuse and Lone Peak (19-1) decide the state crown Friday, Oct. 24, at America First Field in Sandy. Kickoff is slated for 5 p.m.

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