Bountiful • How Tuesday’s first goal ended up in the back of the net turned into a matter of conjecture for spectators Tuesday.
Everyone knew it went off Viewmont forward Sailor Uffens.
But where exactly it deflected off the player was up for debate. From head to toe, every part of Uffens’ body — except an arm or hand, of course — was a possibility for distant eyes.
Up close, too.
“It was my leg and then my foot. I think it hit off my thigh,” said Uffens, who scored off a pass from Ellie Morris. “I don’t remember. I just remember the ball dropped right in front of me.
“I really didn’t have to do much, just make sure some body part got on it.”
It turned out that was the only scoring that the host Vikings needed in a 2-0 victory over Alta. The visiting Hawks were the third seed out of Region 7 while Viewmont (11-4-3) was the second seed from Region 5.
The last time Alta (9-6-1) lost a first-round postseason game came in 2010 to Weber.
PLAYER OF THE GAME <br>Viewmont forward Sailor Uffens got the first goal of the game on a pass from teammate Ellie Morris about 15 minutes in. An Uffens' shot bounced off the Alta keeper and trickled to the Vikings' Shealee Heywood for an easy putback in the second half.
The Hawks have earned eight state championships — the last in 2011 — but all of the history couldn’t put points on the board or even shots on goal. Alta only had a handful of shots in the loss.
“They just played better than us,” Alta coach Lee Mitchell said. “Of course we expected to win. If you don’t expect to win, you shouldn’t even be out there.”
Said Viewmont coach Spencer Keddington: ”Lee Mitchell’s been around a long time, and we knew their teams are good — well-coached — and they’re always going to play hard.”
Uffens’ goal came 15 minutes into the contest. She was only three feet from the goal line when the ball deflected off her.
Uffens’ made possible the second goal by creating an opportunity for teammate Shealee Heywood.
Uffens drove a shot that Alta keeper Sami Myers couldn’t collect. The ball trickled toward the left post, and Heywood kicked it home.
The two teams also met in a 2014 opening-round game that Alta won in overtime.
“You’ve got to forget the past and just be in the game that you’re at,” Uffens said. “Just forget about it and be in the moment.”
Viewmont advanced to face Timpanogos in Thursday’s state quarterfinal round.