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Ogden High's Zeke Snow chases down the ball during a nonregion boys soccer contest against Clearfield on Thursday, March 5, 2026, at the Spence Eccles Ogden Community Sports Complex in Ogden.

CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner

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Ogden High's Harrison Hoskins drives toward the goal during a nonregion boys soccer contest against Clearfield on Thursday, March 5, 2026, at the Spence Eccles Ogden Community Sports Complex in Ogden.

CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner

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Clearfield High coach Matthew Kennaley meets with his team before a nonregion boys soccer contest on Thursday, March 5, 2026, at the Spence Eccles Ogden Community Sports Complex in Ogden.

CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner

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Ogden High coach Todd Scott meets with his team before a nonregion boys soccer contest against Clearfield on Thursday, March 5, 2026, at the Spence Eccles Ogden Community Sports Complex in Ogden.

CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner

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OGDEN — The March elements bring a mixture of rain, snow and yellow cards to the opening weeks of Utah’s high school boys soccer season, and Ogden High had all three Thursday.

The Tigers battled through cold rain and a bit of snow for a 1-0 overtime win over Clearfield courtesy of newcomer Zeke Snow, assisted by senior forward Harrison Hoskins, for a second home win to begin the season.

Snow’s golden goal arrived after 80-plus minutes of defensive vigor and a shutout by senior goalkeeper Xavier Peregrina.

After producing a 7-0 shutout two days earlier, Ogden (2-0) looked perplexed as shot after shot either sailed around, or directly into, the hands of Falcons (0-1) junior keeper Bryce Peterson.

As Clearfield clung to a scoreless match deep through the second half, it’d be Snow, the younger brother of Ogden alum Gauge Vause (a 2023 graduate) who finally broke through in extra time.

Recalling the goal, Snow and Hoskins were in agreement: right place, right time.

“The whole team knew it was coming,” Snow said. “I knew that goal was coming on that cross. It was just staying composed in the last minutes of the game.”

“Me and Zeke made good runs into the box and we saw that cross was coming in fast,” Hoskins added. “We knew we just needed to be in the box for something to happen and luckily they slipped up, and we were able to finish.”

It came after a handful of opportunities for Clearfield to claim the match, including a corner kick by freshman forward Isaac Harestead with less than four minutes left in extra time. Another opportunity, coming late in regulation, arrived on a free kick taken by senior Jesus Obeso-Isais, who placed his free kick just out of range following a Grant Aardema yellow card.

Matthew Kennaley, now in his second season as Clearfield’s head coach, left Thursday’s loss encouraged about his team’s season-opener, going nine-plus minutes into overtime with the defending 3A state champions. The Falcons finished 4-12 and sixth in Region 5 last spring.

“In the second half, we responded really well,” Kennaley said. “The team came out and gave ourselves some chance. It just comes down to not capitalizing on the chances we had, and that there at the end of overtime is always where you want to win that game early. … We had our chance down there and just came back the other way.”

Clearfield did, in fact, take a handful of possessions out of Ogden’s hands in the second half, and a matter of looks between Harestad and fellow senior captain Carden Porter simply didn’t pan out against a Tiger defense that produced 11 total shutouts last season.

It’s guys like Harestad, Porter and senior back Kaden Ly — all three of Clearfield’s captains — who Kennaley hopes can turn his Falcons into the battle-tested squad that can win such overtime scenarios. If anyone knows about overtime, it should be Clearfield.

The Falcons dropped consecutive overtime trips at Roy and at Bountiful last March.

“Our defense did great — obviously this is a high-powered Ogden team — and to actually come back out and how well we held them was really fortunate,” Kennaley said. “They hit the post a couple times, they sent one over, but still I’m proud of the boys. They were really resilient. They have a don’t-break mentality and just don’t bend.”

On the winning end, Ogden, now in its 11th season under the leadership of two-time championship coach Todd Scott, looks ahead to the busier end of its nonregion schedule.

After Thursday’s win, the Tigers host home matches against Providence Hall on Friday and Delta on Saturday before enjoying a three-day break.

The Tigers are two shutouts deep into their new campaign, and one of the loudest names in the team’s huddle following Thursday’s win was Peregrina, a Standard-Examiner All-Area First Team goalkeeper following an 18-2 postseason goal differential during last year’s title run.

“He’s the glue that keeps us all together,” Hoskins said of Peregrina. “He sees things that we don’t, and so having him back there being so confident for us, telling us where we need to be and just him making big stops when we need to, that’s just a big part of our game.”

A wake-up call, a near-miss or a pressure-induced victory — whatever you want to label Thursday’s win, it’s from a brand-new Ogden team (but with some familiar faces pulling the strings). Among them, Snow, welcomed in with open arms, knows the bar rests much higher than escaping a 5A foe on a snowy March night.

“The Ogden standard is just so special compared to every other high school,” Snow said. “I think we really have something special. This team, I love it and I like playing with my friends. I like playing with my boys and it just already feels like a family. I’ve been around Ogden for a long time and the culture’s nothing like anything else.”

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