“You got it, Sarah”: American Fork girls soccer GK makes big PK save to hold off Skyridge in 6A semifinals
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- American Fork players celebrate after the 6A semifinal game against Skyridge at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman on Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023.
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- American Fork players celebrate with junior keeper Sarah Mathis (center) after the 6A semifinal game against Skyridge at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman on Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023.
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- American Fork players celebrate after the 6A semifinal game against Skyridge at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman on Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023.
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- American Fork junior Estee Schneider (7) battles for the ball during the 6A semifinal game against Skyridge at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman on Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023.
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- American Fork junior Chelsie Johnson heads the ball during the 6A semifinal game against Skyridge at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman on Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023.
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- Skyridge junior Rachel Boren (2) takes a shot during the 6A semifinal game against American Fork at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman on Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023.
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- American Fork senior Calli Condie heads the ball during the 6A semifinal game against Skyridge at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman on Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023.
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- Skyridge senior Secily Bye (14) battles for the ball during the 6A semifinal game against American Fork at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman on Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023.
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- American Fork junior keeper Sarah Mathis (0) watches a shot sail wide during the 6A semifinal game against Skyridge at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman on Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023.
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- American Fork senior Ellie Cook and Skyridge senior Amanda Caswell race after a bouncing ball during the 6A semifinal game at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman on Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023.
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- American Fork junior Tayla Crandell heads the ball during the 6A semifinal game against Skyridge at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman on Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023.
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- Skyridge senior Secily Bye dribbles up the field during the 6A semifinal game against American Fork at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman on Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023.
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- American Fork players celebrate after the 6A semifinal game against Skyridge at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman on Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023.
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- American Fork players celebrate after the 6A semifinal game against Skyridge at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman on Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023.
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- American Fork players celebrate after the 6A semifinal game against Skyridge at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman on Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023.
American Fork junior keeper Sarah Mathis faced four in-game penalty kicks during the 2023 regular season and Caveman head coach Derek Dunn said he always tells her the same thing as they line up:
“You got it, Sarah! I know you got it!”
And three out of four times, he was right.
But could Mathis find the same magic with her team clinging to a one-goal lead in the second half of Tuesday’s 6A semifinal battle against Skyridge at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman?
Confidence certainly wasn’t going to be an issue.
“You’ve got to just have confidence,” Mathis said. “If you don’t have confidence on a PK, you’re not stopping it because they definitely have the advantage. It’s the whole wide-open goal. You just have to be confident and just go.”
Her prior success also gave her every reason to trust her own judgment, so she stepped up and dove to her left as the shot came in — blocking it away and keeping American Fork in front.
“It was huge,” Mathis said. “I knew if they put that in, it would be a whole different game. But they didn’t.”
Despite the penalty kick save, the Falcons gave everything they had, including taking shots right up until the final horn.
In the end, though, the Caveman defense refused to crack and No. 5-seeded American Fork secured the 1-0 win over No. 8-seed Skyridge, punching their ticket to the 6A state championship.
“This group has been so resilient all year,” Dunn said. “It’s a young group but we keep talking about tradition and how there is no tomorrow without today. That save from Sarah spurred us on and put us in a good spot.”
He said seeing Mathis come up big again when her team needed her most was awesome but also not surprising.
“Penalty kicks are something that we practice every day,” Dunn said. “If you want to confidence, that’s the girl that has it all day. She won’t bat an eye. That was huge.”
The reason the Cavemen were in that position to begin with was because of an excellent set piece in the 15th minutes.
American Fork junior Lucy Kesler — as she has all season — launched a beautiful ball and senior Sophie Eckery got on the end of it to put it away.
“We’ve been working on set pieces,” Dunn said. “Sophie made a great run and got off her mark. No one likes headers because they aren’t fun, but when you put one in, it feels great. We’re just glad they work in the box.”
Mathis said that having the lead for the rest of the game took a little of the pressure off her and the Caveman defense.
“It’s still stressful but it takes a load off,” Mathis said. “It’s so nice.”
Skyridge head coach Toby Peterson said he felt like his team started a little tight but even though the Falcons fell behind, he was proud of how they responded.
“They never gave up,” Peterson said. “That just shows you the grit, the resiliency, that this team had all season.”
Skyridge dealt with losing players to injury and losing some heartbreakers, but Peterson said his team has so much to be proud of as they reached the 6A semifinals.
“We’ve known all year long that this group is special, that it had the potential to go all the way,” Peterson said. “At the end of the season, unfortunately, we’re not the one that will win it all but we will collect ourselves and learn from this one. We’ll come back next year, ready to fight a little bit harder.”
American Fork now heads to the title game where it will face rival Lone Peak with the 6A crown on the line.
“I always wanted to go to the championship,” Mathis said. “Last year we came up a little short and it was just super sad. This year, it just means a lot and we get to prove ourselves. We’re always wanting to prove ourselves and this was our time.”
The Cavemen will play the Knights in the 6A finals at America First Field in Sandy on Friday at 11 a.m.
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