Making it count: Cooper Michaelis’ logs critical goal during Timpanogos 3-1 win over Provo
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- Timpanogos senior Cooper Michaelis celebrates his PK goal during his team’s 3-1 win over Provo. Mary 12, 2026
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- Timpanogos junior McCoy Michaelis battles for the ball during his team’s 3-1 win over Provo. May 12, 2026
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- Timpanogos senior Evan Haderlie battles for the ball during his team’s 3-1 win over Provo. May 12, 2026
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- Timpanogos senior Lewis Peterson bears down on the ball deep in the scoring zone during his team’s 3-1 win over Provo. May 12, 2026
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- Timpanogos’ Evan Haderlie celebrates his goal scored during a 3-1 win over Provo. May 12, 2026
Timpanogos Cooper Michaelis picked a fine time to score his first goal of the season.
Playing in his final game on his home field, the senior defender was told to line up the kick by Beckam Gomm, who was taken down within the penalty box with just over three minutes remaining during the Timberwolves’ second round game versus Provo on Tuesday. Timpanogos was holding a perilous 2-1 lead at the time with the Bulldogs threatening on several occasions to tie things up, making the opportunity to put one in paramount.
“I just know Spencer Shuman, their keeper, and he likes to dive early, so I just slammed it as hard as I could right down the middle,” Michaelis said of his plan. “It went in and it was such a great feeling. To get my first goal of my senior year in that situation was just amazing.”
Michaelis’ PK also relieved a quite a bit of tense pressure for the home team, as it were. Sure, the Timberwolves went up 2-0 just after the 20th minute of game, but were held scoreless for just under 60 minutes thereafter while Provo added a goal of its own just before the close of the first half.
The Timberwolves’ first goal was tallied by Gomm off of a brilliant assist from Lewis Peterson before Evan Haderlie doubled the lead about 15 minutes later. But Diego Reyes, with just under a minute remaining in the first half, changed the course of the game considerably when he capitalized on a defensive mishap made by Timpanogos to find himself wide open for the Provo goal.
“This is the third time we’ve played Provo, so know they’re a really good team and they were going to come at us strong,” said Timpanogos coach Chuy Acevedo. “We did our homework, though. We had a good gameplan, and fortunately that gameplan got us those two early goals, which was big for us.”
It was Provo which served the Timberwolves one of their three losses this season back on March 26 in a game that was ultimately decided by penalty kicks. Timpanogos exacted some revenge with a 2-0 win about a month later before eliminating the Bulldogs altogether from the 4A state tournament with Tuesday’s win.
Turns out Timpanogos’ two other losses were of the highest quality, speaking loudly to the team’s potential to make a deep run in the postseason. The first loss incurred was an overtime loss to now undefeated Pleasant Grove in early March and the second to 6A powerhouse Lone Peak in early April.
Despite its impressive resume, Timpanogos was granted just the No. 5 seed in the tournament with the prospect of having to travel down to St. George to battle with No. 4 Deseret Hills in the quarterfinal round. It’s not an enviable scenario, although the Timberwolves are embracing the challenge.
“We feel we’re better than our No. 5 seed, but that’s okay,” Acevedo said. “I don’t understand how it all works, but there’s definitely some really good teams in 4A. Provo is a great team and we’re going to have our hands full with Desert Hills. But I think we’ve proven this season that we can compete against the very best in the state no matter the classification.”
A big reason for Timpanogos’ success is its senior experience. The Timberwolves’ roster features 17 seniors, all of whom have become very close through the years and have learned to work in concert to provide the impressive results they’ve achieved this season.
“We’ve been working on our culture and community a lot since last year, and that’s been our big focus,” Acevedo said. “Community is first and these boys have embraced that and have really grown close to one another. At the end of every practice they tell one another how much they love each other, and it’s created some very strong play for us this year.”
“We’re a family,” Michaelis added. “We go to bat for one another every day and we love each other so much. It’s incredible how our culture has come together and to get the win that we did today for our final game on our home field was amazing.”