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How often does a defending state champion find itself in desperate need of a wake-up call?
The Skyline Eagles found out Wednesday afternoon — at home, no less. Last year's Class 4A winners were put on their heels early, thanks to a stunning 35-yard shot by Wasatch's Gary Lopez in the 13th minute. The left-footed strike stunned even Skyline coach Shawn Kennedy for a moment.
"You could see the kids, after [Wasatch] scored, started panicking," Kennedy said. "Panic is what we're not OK with."
The Eagles ensured the first half's sloppy possession and missed opportunities wouldn't bleed into the second. Skyline found its footing and scored four second-half goals, thumping Wasatch 4-1 in the 4A first-round matchup.
Meaning the Eagles still have a shot at defending their 2014 crown.
Nine minutes into the second half, senior forward Sheldon Martineau ran onto a long ball and fired a shot at Wasatch goalkeeper Spencer Pennington. The shot bounced back to Martineau, whose one-time finish found the back of the net, allowing the Eagles to equalize and turn the tables on the visiting Wasps.
Just over 10 minutes later, Pennington got a yellow card for fouling Skyline forward Hunter Kone in the penalty area. Due to being cautioned, Pennington was forced to take off his goalkeeper jersey and briefly sub out, leaving Lopez in goal to try to save Dallin Holding's penalty-kick attempt.
Holding went to his right and put the ball just out of the reach of an outstretched Lopez to give Skyline a 2-1 lead in the 60th minute.
Senior forward Brigham Jackson padded Skyline's expanding lead in the 65th minute with his own left-footed drive from afar that flew over Pennington and into the back of the net to put the Eagles ahead 3-1.
"I think when we finally settled down, we moved up [the field] together, as a team,"Kennedy said. "It was a lot more our style and a lot better for us, and we were able to finish the balls that we wanted to get after."
Midfielder Jack Dahlstrom finished a ball in the waning minutes of stoppage time to put an exclamation point on Skyline's second-half turnaround.
"I like that we had different players that stepped up and scored," Kennedy said. "It wasn't just one that we were relying on."
Twitter: @CKTribune —
Skyline 4, Wasatch 1
R Wasatch sophomore Gary Lopez puts the visitors up 1-0 in the 13th minute.
• Skyline responds with four second-half goals, all from different players.
• Skyline moves on to face the winner of Logan-Highland in the 4A quarterfinals. —
4A schedule
First round, Wednesday
• Timpview 2, Mountain View 1
• Judge 2, Sky View 1
• East 3, Box Elder 1
• Maple Mountain 2, Olympus 0
• Logan 3, Highland 2
• Skyline 4, Wasatch 1
• Provo 2, Murray 1
• Bountiful 2, Ogden 1
Quarterfinals, Friday
(All games 4 p.m.)
• Judge at Timpview
• Maple Mountain at East
• Logan at Skyline
• Bountiful at Provo