In an entertaining offensive showdown in high school boys soccer, even a two-goal lead with under 10 minutes to play isn't necessarily safe.

"They had some really good chances," said Red Devil coach Rick Bertleson. "They're a really, really good offensive team. But we also had chances and missed. Everyone has misses."

Springville had a 4-2 lead after a corner-kick score headed in by Josh Riedhead with 12 minutes to play, but the Panthers refused to fold.

The visitors came back strong, using their speed to put pressure on the Red Devil net.

"They were really good at getting to the second ball," said Springville goalkeeper Brandon Allen. "They had the best touches we've seen and they usually got the ball off. Our defense was able to get there and stop them.

When the backline didn't, Allen stayed poised and made some spectacular saves, including a diving one-hander.

With time winding down, however, the Red Devils got a gift from the Pine View attacker who broke free and managed to tip the ball past the charging Allen.

With an open net and a chance to make it a one-goal game, the Panther touch stayed wide left and hit the side of the netting.

The Springville faithful let out a sigh of relief, but it was short-lived. Only a minute later, Pine View was awarded a penalty kick and thus given another shot at making things exciting.

Once again, Allen came up with the play, guessing correctly on the shot and knocking it away.

"I just try to do my part, try to support my teammates," he explained. "I picked the spot (on the PK). Fortunately, he went that way. The feeling at that point is something you can't explain. You're so pumped up."

The home team built its lead off of successful set pieces. Midfielder Joe Shinners scored first with a great header off a corner kick by midfielder Phil Dangerfield to put the Red Devils in front.

Two minutes later, the Panthers equalized on great cross by midfielder Jordan Wade that forward Trey Ping headed into the net.

The next two goals would go to Springville as Shinners fed Dangerfield on a long throw-in late in the first half and then Luke Wilding drilled home a rebound off an Andrew Dearden shot.

Pine View got within striking distance on a perfect long shot by Chris Fernandez midway through the second half, but that would be all the scoring for the visitors.

"We fought clear to the end," said Panther coach Sam. "We kept coming back and had some chances. You can't ask for anything more."

For the Red Devils, advancing to the 4A state semifinals is a big step in the right direction.

"It feels really good," Bertleson said. "We've worked hard. Pine View is an excellent team, the hardest playing team we've played this year. But we played just as hard as they did and a lot of hard work paid off today."

Springville moves on to meet Bountiful on Tuesday at Woods Cross at 2 p.m. for the right to go to the title game.

• Jared Lloyd can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it