Sandy • Lone Peak's young soccer team couldn't help but feel a bit of trepidation with most of the action during the first 10 minutes of the game in the north end of the field.
As host Alta took a quick 1-0 lead in a Class 5A state quarterfinal, and seven state championship banners hanging above from the nearby football stadium, the tradition-heavy Hawks continued to pepper the Knights' goal with solid shots.
But the storm didn't last. And it's Lone Peak (13-5) that will advance to the state semifinals Tuesday after a 2-1 overtime victory decided in a penalty kick shootout.
"I'd never played Alta before," Knights forward Tess Arnold said. "The last time we played them was the year before I got into high school. It [how Alta started] honestly did scare me. When you get down like that in the first five minutes, you can't let it get into your head."
Alta (18-2-1) went up by a goal in the fourth minute on a shot by junior Whitney Paskins, but an Arnold tally midway through the first half evened the score at 1-1.
That was all the scoring for the rest of regulation and two 10-minute overtime periods.
Lone Peak keeper Cassidy Smith made stops on a pair of shots and another Alta attempt bounced off the crossbar in the PK shootout. It was a goal by Knights junior Natalie Lewis against Hawks goalie Julianne Gentry that clinched the victory and set off a Lone Peak celebration.
"She made two great saves, she did," Knights coach Heather Dahl said about Smith. "That was all on her."
The best chance for both teams to break the tie in regulation came during a 20-second sequence. Following a corner kick, an Alta header hit the crossbar and the deflection turned into a three-quarter of the field counter by Lone Peak freshman Cameron Tucker, whose shot went left of the Hawks goal with 7 minutes, 30 seconds remaining.
"It was 10 minutes in and we were like, 'Come on girls, this is still a game,' " Dahl said. "It's hard to come into Alta's arena. They're multi-state champions and they're experienced. I'm proud of the girls, and the defense was just stellar today and they stayed with it the whole game."
Lone Peak 2, Alta 1 (PKs)
R The Knights defeat the Hawks 4-2 on penalty kicks.
• Lone Peak goalkeeper Cassidy Smith saves two PKs.