High school boys soccer: Floodgates open for Ogden in second half in dominant 3A championship win over Manti

Throughout the scoreless first half of the 3A state championship game on Saturday, Ogden discovered firsthand why Manti was such a great defensive team all season, as it was organized and very difficult to break down.

At the same time, Ogden had the better of the chances and possession in the first half, and coach Todd Scott told his players a goal would eventually come if they remained patient with their possession and buildup.

The first goal indeed came just three minutes into the second half, and then they just kept coming. Ogden scored four goals during a 27-minute stretch to start the second half as it marched to a 4-1 win over previously-unbeaten Manti at America First Field to claim its first state championship since 2005.

“The boys knew to respect that record, especially the 14 shutouts. We had to adjust at halftime, and realized we needed to play our game and the boys were resilient and executed and were patient in that second half. After that first goal, we had that momentum,” said Scott.

Jace Rodriguez and Adam Jenks each recorded a goal and an assist during the dominant half for the Tigers, who finished the season with a 15-3 record this season. Harry Hoskins added two assists.

In the first half, though, Todd thought collectively the team just played nervous.

“They had the intensity, they just had to come back, play our game and just possess,” he said.

Ogden senior forward Ben Points echoed that sentiment. “We needed to play one, two-touch ball. We were doing too much and once we started doing that and playing for each other, it just opened up and we scored four instantly,” he said.

It was Points who delivered that key goal early in the second half that changed the entire complexion of the game. In the 43rd minute, he received a pass in the box from sophomore Adam Jenks, took a quick touch and fired the ball past Manti’s keeper.

It was his 14th goal of the season to go along with his eight assists.

“He’s our nine. He’s not only our playmaker, he gets the job done. Just unselfish nine, he actually looks for the pass first before he actually scores,” said Scott.

The goal was a massive jolt for Ogden, and, conversely, a massive disappointment for Manti, which now had to chase things in a match where it was having a difficult time getting much possession going forward.

“We had a lot of chances and we weren’t scoring them, we were kind of getting frustrated (in the first half), but once we got that first one, we knew that we could just going get more,” said Points.

In the 57th minute, Ogden doubled its lead as Rodriguez tackled the ball away from a Manti midfielder on the wing and then quickly lofted a ball into the box toward the far post. The keeper misjudged the ball, and Jenks was in perfect position to head it into the open net.

Four minutes later, Rodriguez took a couple dribbles into the box after receiving a pass from Hoskins and smashed in the goal for the 3-0. Taylor Pierce wrapped up the scoring for Ogden in the 67th minute on Hoskins’ second assist of the match.

Manti tacked on a late goal from Tomas Reyes in the 78th minute to avoid its first shutout of the season.