The American Fork boys soccer team played one of their best games of the season to earn a 4-0 victory over Pleasant Grove in Region 4 action Friday evening.

“The truth is we’ve been close in almost all our games this year,” said Caveman coach Nate Lowe. “Usually there’s just a one-goal difference, and we’ve been on the losing end more often than not.”

Lowe added that the winning score by opposing squads has happened in the final minutes of games, making it even more frustrating.

However, the coach said that Friday, the players approached the game with the right attitude and it started during the JV match, which was played before the late-start varsity match.

“They showed great unity,” Lowe explained. “It started on the bench and carried over on to the field.”

The coach said that his players did things in this contest that they haven’t been able to do consistently in games all season, such as make certain passes and maintain possession.

“I always say that the difference between the beautiful game and signing up at the YMCA is passion and energy,” Lowe said.

American Fork’s players demonstrated plenty of both in this one. The Cavemen got on the board early when senior Tyler Staten fed the ball to sophomore Branson Wilbur just 10 minutes into the game.

The two squads dueled even through the remainder of the half. Pleasant Grove forwards Nate Spencer, Jesus Rivas and Alonzo Galicia made some nice runs for the Vikings but couldn’t find the target.

With less than 15 seconds left in stoppage time, American Fork senior Joe Garlick served the ball to senior Johnathan Corliss for the score to give the Cavemen a 2-0 advantage at the break.

Pleasant Grove picked up combination play in the second period and continued to make some great runs at the goal.

Vikings Aaron Williams and Riley Johnson both got off terrific shots, but one was deflected by American Fork senior keeper Jacob Brazel and the other bounced off the top bar. A later attempt also hit the crossbar and came back out.

Fifteen minutes into the second half, Caveman junior Mike Brown redirected a cross from freshman Kameron Mortezazadeh for the third goal.

Five minutes later, Staten completed the tally for the night with a free kick from about 25 yards out.

“They saw today the different performances they can have,” Lowe said. “Look at how happy they are. I’m always happy when they play well, but it feels better to play well and win.”

The Cavemen (5-8-0, 2-5-0) host Lone Peak (6-5-2, 3-3-1) and the Vikings (3-9-1, 1-6-0) welcome Riverton (7-3-3, 4-2-1) Wednesday at 5:15 p.m.

Beky Beaton can be reached at bbeaton@heraldextra.com. Follow her on Twitter at @BeatonWrite.