High school girls soccer: 5A final will be No. 1 vs. No. 2 clash as Olympus, Brighton earn semifinal shutout wins

Here’s a recap of the two 5A girls soccer semifinals that were held at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman on Tuesday, with No. 1 Olympus and No. 2 Brighton each advancing to Friday’s 5A championship game also in Herriman.
Emry Stott was just trying to drive the corner kick low and hard into a dangerous area. Not in a million years did she think it would go in.
It did, and Brighton is now one win away from a 5A state championship.
Stott’s Olimpico goal straight off a corner kick in the 54th minute was the only goal of the game as No. 2 Brighton edged No. 3 Maple Mountain 1-0 in the 5A semifinal Tuesday afternoon at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman.
There was a Maple Mountain player at the near post when Stott whipped in the left-footed corner, but the ball still slipped through the narrowest of space and into the back of the net.
Shortly after being mobbed by teammate’s Stott’s mentality immediately shifted.
“We got to lock in the D, we can’t let them score. I mentally switched to defense, we’ve got to hold the game here,” said Stott, who has now scored in all three Brighton playoff wins after scoring three goals all season.
Brighton coach Sarah Cowley said it’s a tribute to the senior’s mentality.
“Emry is a competitor, that girl brings it every day. I’ve been coaching Emry since she was 8, and there’s not a more competitive person. If you want someone with a competitive spirit who’s going to fight, even in practice if it’s a drill, she’s going at it 100%. She takes it seriously. I’m just so happy she’s having success in the playoffs,” said Cowley.
Brighton’s coach said it was kind of fitting that the goal was scored on a corner kick in a game between two strong defensive sides.
“We stayed tough, which has kind of been a personality of our team this year, we find a way. Wasn’t as pretty, but we knew with Maple Mountain being so tough and physical, that we were just going to create half chances,” said Cowley.
Brighton had a bit better of the chances in the first half, but early in the second half Maple Mountain was on the front foot for the opening 10 minutes.
The Bengals slowly wrestled back control in the flow of the game, which ultimately led to the corner kick after Maple Mountain’s defense scrambled to clear a dangerous ball on a run in behind.
That led to Stott’s magical Olimpico goal, as Brighton is now one win away from its first girls soccer state championship since 2013.
With the 1-0 lead, Cowley had no doubt that her center-back pairing of Bailey Brown and Londyn Green would calmly see out the final 25 minutes for the shutout win.
“Those two are our rock, and all year long have been shutting teams down and giving incredible, physical performances. The way that those two play together I think make us hard to beat,” said Cowley.
Despite the difficulty of breaking down Brighton’s defense, Maple Mountain still nearly equalized in the 77th minute as Sierra Jacobson headed a corner kick off the crossbar.
“I’d say we didn’t execute our game plan as well as we wanted, but we fought, we never gave up and we never let down and got the win, and that’s all that matter,” said Green.
With the win Brighton advances to Friday’s state championship to face top seed Olympus at 11 a.m.
Olympus won the first meeting 6-0, but Brighton improved greatly in the rematch and earned the win in penalties after a 1-1 draw.
“Probably the best defensive effort I’ve seen out of our girls, and it’s gonna require that again on Friday. Defensively is how you beat Olympus and then you put your chances in like corners and set pieces,” said Cowley.
As it has done throughout the season, Olympus looked every bit the part of the No. 1 seed in 5A in a dominant semifinal win over Bountiful on Tuesday.
Hope Munson scored twice and then the Titans completely shut down Bountiful’s potent attack in a resounding 3-0 win at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman.
Olympus advances to the 5A state championship on Friday at 11 a.m. back at Zions Back Stadium in pursuit of its first state title since 2020.
After her team lost in the semifinals a year ago, Olympus coach Jamie Evans said she’s ecstatic this group of girls will get to play in a final.
“We are ecstatic for them because they have that magic. We don’t ever have to get them up and get them going, they show up to play every day. We’re so excited for them because they have it, they embody everything about a championship team,” said Evans.
Bountiful came into the semifinals with a 16-3 record 73 goals scored, but it struggled to get on the ball with any consistency as the Titans controlled possession throughout.
“Our movement off the ball is so amazing. It’s probably one of the best team’s I’ve ever played on, we just have such good chemistry, and that just makes it easy to keep the ball, makes it easy to help each other,” said Munson.
In the limited moments when Bountiful did break through the midfield lines, Olympus’ defense quickly cleaned things up.
“We gave them a job and we told them we wanted to stop their attack and I felt like we were almost flawless that first half,” said Evans.
Bountiful’s defense was strong as well the first half, but an early giveaway led to a breakaway and Munson is too good to squander that type of opportunity.
In the seventh minute, Hallie Hansen stripped the ball from a Bountiful center back and then quickly played a through ball into space for Munson to run onto. It was a simple finish to put the Titans up 1-0.
“That was a great amazing team goal. I thought that we all built up through the back and it came from everyone, started from our goalkeeper,” said Munson about her 24th goal of the season.
Early in the second half she scored goal number No. 25 on a penalty kick after she took on three defenders to earn the PK. She’s now one goal away from tying the school record for goals in a season.
As she often does, Munson bounced between playing up top in an attacking position and dropping into a defensive role. Evans said it’s always all about getting the North Carolina commit on the ball.
“We want her on the ball. We kind of let the game go a little bit and see where we want her to find her space, and then that’s where we ask her to go find her space,” said Evans.
Olympus tacked on its third goal in the 65th minute on an unfortunate own goal for Bountiful.
Hansen was initially unlucky not to score after heading a corner kick from Ella Schutjer on frame. Just before her shot crossed the line Bountiful defender Alivia Roberts cleared the ball, but it bounced straight off her own keeper’s leg and into the back of the net.