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Grantsville • Call Grantsville playing and winning a home state soccer game quirky.

Playing in a park on Quirk Street, the Cowboys got two goals including the golden winner from Matt Whiting to take a thrilling 3-2 overtime victory over Ben Lomond Thursday in the opening round of the Class 3A tournament.

The home contest was also quirky because, according to Cowboy coach Travis Ivory, it was the first state boys' soccer game Grantsville had ever hosted.

The win was anything but quirky in what was an exciting contest between two classy, well-disciplined teams that saw Grantsville take the lead twice, only to watch the Scots come back.

Whiting took a pass from Ryan Tripp late in the first half, beat a defender and put the first goal past Ben Lomond goalie Eric Cuevas.

But, mere seconds later, Ben Lomond junior Andrew Gallardo scored straight over the head of Cowboy goalie Parker May to tie it at halftime.

It looked as though a penalty kick goal by Grantsville captain Benton Tripp midway through the second half would be the difference.

But Ben Lomond's Armando Diaz blasted a beauty in from the left side to force overtime.

Two minutes in, Whiting, a senior center midfielder, booted a beauty from the center about 30 yards out for the winner.

Talking about both his goals, Whiting said he tries not to think on the field.

"I didn't want to think too much," he said. "That's when I screw up. I decided to try not to think about things and just play soccer. I got lucky [on the last shot], well not lucky, but it just got in."

Whiting said there was no sense of panic due to the late Ben Lomond goal. He had praise for the Scots.

"They are good team with a solid center back who is a good player," said the Cowboy star. "Credit to them. They play soccer and don't screw around with all that other crap."

The Cowboys earned a chance to travel to St. George Saturday to play Region 9 champion Snow Canyon, something Grantsville's Ivory said was a big motivator.

He said winning a state tournament game at home before a nice crowd was a big moment for his team, which finished second to Stansbury in Region 10.

Ben Lomond coach Keith Jenson said he felt as though his team was the aggressor most of the game.

"The ball can go either way at any time," he said. "They capitalized on their opportunity, but I thought we dominated the game. We had possession of the ball and passed around really well."

Twitter @tribtomwharton —

Storylines

• Matt Whitting scores two goals, including the golden goal two minutes into overtime, to give Grantsville its first home win in the state soccer tournament.

• Ben Lomond comes back from two deficits on goals by Andrew Gallardo and Armondo Diaz.

• Grantsville travels to St. George to meet Snow Canyon Saturday.