Prep boys' soccer: Riverton tops Lone Peak in frenzied finish

Riverton • Wednesday's Region 4 boys' soccer battle between Riverton and Lone Peak was one of those games where all the participants just shook their heads at the end.

Those gestures were accompanied by broad smiles for host Riverton.

The Silverwolves trailed 2-0 in the last minute-and-change and with rarely a good scoring opportunity to their credit over the first 78 minutes. But they suddenly struck for a pair of goals to send the game into overtime.

Lone Peak had two good chances to score in overtime, but it was Riverton senior forward Tanner Sylvies who found the upper right corner of the net with seven minutes remaining in the second overtime period to give the Silverwolves a 3-2 victory.

Instead of having to regroup after falling into a tie atop the region standing, jubilant Riverton (7-2-3, 4-1-1) rejoiced in the sudden turn of events.

"We've come back before, we've had a couple of injury-time goals so far this season," Riverton coach Paul Moizer said. "But nothing like that. You get outplayed and then you turn it around at the right moment. I don't know. It's a crazy game sometimes."

Lone Peak (6-4-2, 3-2-2) struck first when senior Michael Smith chested in a goal after teammate Nate Walton's shot ricocheted off the crossbar 15 minutes into the game.

From that point to when the Knights added an insurance goal in the waning moments, Lone Peak outshot the home team 9-3. Riverton only got off one shot in the second half before the finale two minutes of regulation.

That all changed when Sylvies slipped past the Knights' defense and poked in a goal past the rushing Lone Peak keeper. Moments later, Brett Smith almost identically scored the game-tying goal before injury time ran out.

"Our game plan was to just sit back and kind of counter-attack," Sylvies said. "You know, they took their center back out right at the end of the game, which is something that's not typically done. I think that's what really gave us the advantage. We just kind of capitalized on our opportunities."

"We fell out of our rhythm, and there was probably some coaching error involved," Lone Peak coach Blaine Hale said. —