Champs again: Weston, Ogden escape Manti late to ‘visualize’ back-to-back girls soccer titles
Weston goals feed No. 2 Ogden's 2-1 win over No. 1 Manti in 3A finale
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- Ogden High celebrates its 3A girls soccer state championship win over Manti on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026, at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman. (CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner)
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- Ogden High celebrates its 3A girls soccer state championship win over Manti on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026, at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman. (CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner)
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- Ogden High celebrates its 3A girls soccer state championship win over Manti on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026, at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman. (CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner)
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- Ogden High’s Alondra Ayala passes before Manti’s Haddie Rasmussen can get there during the 3A girls soccer state championship game on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026, at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman. (CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner)
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- Ogden High’s Elle Weston drives around Ella Thompson during the 3A girls soccer state championship game on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026, at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman. (CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner)
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- Manti’s Bostyn Parry, left, and Ogden High’s Bryleigh Thomas go up for a high ball during the 3A girls soccer state championship game on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026, at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman. (CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner)
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- Ogden High coach calls out from the sideline during the 3A girls soccer state championship game on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026, at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman. (CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner)
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- Elle Weston, center, and Ogden High celebrate their 3A girls soccer state championship win over Manti on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026, at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman. (CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner)
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- Ogden High gathers ahead of its 3A girls soccer state championship game against Manti on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026, at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman. (CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner)
HERRIMAN – Elle Weston loves a good rug pull when it presents itself.
The Ogden High senior and future Baylor freshman pulled the trigger on a 25-yard golden goal from the top-right corner of Manti’s box, reversing a day full of missed opportunities for a sweet, 2-1 walkoff victory in the 3A girls soccer state finals on Saturday at Zions Bank Stadium.
Weston, one of seven Ogden seniors enduring the final game of their prep careers, understood the ball played in front of her all too well. One big swing represented her team’s first pair of consecutive state titles since winning three consecutively from 2002 to 2004.
It was the big one – Weston knew it.
“I like to visualize,” Weston said. “That goal, I just had a feeling, I took some deep breaths, and I was like, you know what, this has to be the moment and it’s going to be the moment.”
Up until Weston’s first answer at the 5-minute mark, Manti (19-2) and its second-ever state title (their first arriving in 2019) were simply a few touches apart.
By that point, Ogden (15-6) already cracked defensively when senior Ari Jorgenson lost a 1-on-1 battle with Templars forward McKenzie Chidester, ending 65 minutes of clean goaltending by Whitney Fife with just the second goal to evade Fife’s grasp this postseason.
But crunch-time solutions hardly intimidate King or her Tigers – much the opposite. Alondra Ayala bumped Ogden into the finals with a late goal in a 2-1 win over No. 6 Morgan.
“I won’t believe we lost until there’s less than a minute left on the clock because I’ve seen my girls, so many times, fight and fight hard until the end,” King said. “I told (Weston), ‘We have seven minutes left; we can still win this game,’ and she went out and finished. I’m really proud of her, and I’m really proud of our whole team.”
Ogden contained much of first-half play inside its upper third of the field. The Tigers were driving ball into dangerous situations, but those second and third touches didn’t yield answers.
Such chances were few and far between for Manti in the first half, but a late ball played from Chloe Olson to Chidester threatened the tied match with three minutes before the break. Fife stopped the try with her boot, but Chidester ultimately sought out her goal in the second half.
It was a bend-not-break for the Tigers, now down a goal in the final 15 minutes of a state championship game.
“To me, it’s a whole team thing,” King said of the first Manti goal. “I had one player come off the field, and she apologized, and I said, ‘Don’t apologize. It’s not on you, it’s on the whole team.’ It’s multiple mistakes that result in a goal, and it takes our whole team. Manti capitalized on their goal.”
Accountability, whether for a goal or otherwise, is an area King agrees the Tigers have separated themselves from the pack this season as the regular-season Region 12 champion and subsequent No. 2 seed in the 3A playoffs.
“Sometimes tones come off, and people get their feelings hurt, but we’ve talked about it a lot – whenever your teammates tell you something, take it with the best of intentions,” King said. “They’re trying to help you and the whole team get better.”
Ten minutes after the score, Ogden pieced together a proper answer off Gwenyth Aardema’s corner cross to Weston, powering the header past Manti senior goalkeeper Averie Jo Robbins. Now eager to protect at least an overtime scenario, the Tigers switched the field to provide Weston another chance.
Ogden, with Saturday’s result, now owns nine all-time girls soccer state titles dating back to 2002. King is now two titles deep in her three seasons as head coach (Ogden finished 3A runner-up in 2024).
“I think we’ve learned not to give up,” Weston said. “Every second counts. We’ve won two big games because (Ayala) has scored in the last minute, and I think (Ayala) really taught our team that every second counts and we can always score. We can just win.”
Connect with Standard-Examiner sports reporter Conner Becker via email at cbecker@standard.net, X @ctbecker and Instagram @standardexaminersports.
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Champs again: Weston, Ogden escape Manti late to ‘visualize’ back-to-back girls soccer titles
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