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Sandy • Against the field, Ridgeline had scored a total of one goal in the first two rounds of the 2016 Class 3A girls' state soccer tournament.

So when Logan's Zhu Parker launched a high shot into the net, 10 minutes into the second half against the offensively limited RiverHawks, you can bet it was a big deal.

The Grizzlies would later get another goal from Kennedy Michel to help Logan get into the 3A finals for a second straight year.

In fact, Logan will try to defend its state championship at 4:30 p.m. Saturday at Rio Tinto Stadium against Juan Diego and, no, this experience is apparently not getting old for Parker.

"That would make history. I don't think we had ever won state before, so to go back-to-back would be awesome," said the exuberant Grizzlies senior.

"This one, we definitely had to step up more because we've had a lot of injuries this year," Parker said. "Ridgeline kept us on our toes the entire game, but even in that first half we had more shots — I really felt like we deserved this game."

Logan (14-3-1) applied constant pressure in the first half, particularly from junior Shannon Jensen from the left side of the goal over the first 10 minutes. But Ridgeline (6-9-1) and keeper Makaylee Tenhoeve kept the Grizz off the board for the first half.

In the 50th minute at Jordan High School, however, Parker let fly from around 25 yards away.

"We've played them before and we know their keeper struggles a little bit with high balls," said Logan coach Sven Rasmussen, whose team won Region 11 while Ridgeline finished fourth in league play.

"Zhu has a heck of a left foot and its super-hard to read from a lefty coming from that angle," Rasmussen said. "I'm sure it looked like it was going near-post to the keeper. She loves this field, she also scored here last year against Desert Hills."

It's the first year of play for Ridgeline, a Millville school that just opened its doors in August.

"Our whole team is just super-young and they're all really hard on themselves," RiverHawks coach Darin Christensen said. "They had to get used to playing against bigger girls. I mean, you've got a bunch of freshmen playing against seniors.

"They're just not used to being outweighed by 30 or 40 pounds," he added.

Juan Diego 5, Snow Canyon 1

Things looked good for Snow Canyon when Brielle Hoskins scored early in the Warriors' Class 3A semifinal against the Soaring Eagle.

But Juan Diego's response less than a minute later, in the form of shot by AnnaMaria DiGeronimo, was like a hard slap in the face.

That was only five minutes into the game.

Twelve minutes in, DiGeronimo scored again for a 2-1 lead — after an attempted clear from Snow Canyon (12-7) went awry. By the 25th minute, Juan Diego (13-5-1) was up 4-1 after goals from junior Heaven Kelly and sophomore Daviana Vaka.

Last year, Juan Diego fell in the quarterfinals and, in 2014, in the semifinals.

When DiGeronimo was a freshman, the Soaring Eagle lost in the 2013 championship game. —

3A girls' soccer championship

P Logan vs. Juan Diego

At Rio Tinto Stadium, Sandy

Kickoff • Saturday, 4:30 p.m.