By Roy Burton
Deseret Morning News

      SOUTH OGDEN — The East Leopards accomplished Saturday what they couldn't do last year, winning the 4A girls state soccer championship in their second straight trip to the finals.

East High's Laura Ellison, left, celebrates her team's goal with teammate Kiersten Nilsson. Michael Brandy, Deseret Morning News

      The Leopards pulled out a 3-2 overtime win against region rival Woods Cross in a sudden-death "golden goal" overtime format.
      With 6:28 remaining in overtime, East's Katie Reineke got open from the left side for a shot from the top of the box that just curved past Wildcat keeper Haley Andersen into the opposite corner of the goal.
      "I knew it was 'golden goal' and that we had to score first, so when I got the opportunity, I just shot it," Reineke said of the game-winner.
      She was confident she could make the shot, she said. "Once I kicked it, I knew it was in."
      The Wildcats fought hard to get the game to overtime, but East has won all six of the games it's played past regulation this year, Leopard head coach Mike Kernodle said.
      "This was a great game. Neither side gave up, and it was just a hard-nosed game," he said. "There were several times that either team could have won this game."
      The Leopards were excited for the chance to redeem their defeat in the championship last year against Bountiful, Reineke said.
      "We just worked really hard. It was kind of 'second chance,' and we wanted to win" this one, she said.
      The 4A state tournament was dominated by Region 5 as the top three seeds in the region all made it to the semifinals. East entered the tournament ranked No. 1 in Region 5, followed by Woods Cross and Bountiful.
      The Wildcats kept the finals from being a rematch of last year's East-Bountiful title game by beating the Braves 2-0 with a shutout by Andersen on Friday. East eliminated Timpview, the only non-region rival remaining in the semifinals, 4-1 the same day.

East High's Jane Phillips, left, and Kelly Brouse, right, defend Woods Cross' Kimly Anderson on Saturday. Michael Brandy, Deseret Morning News

      Wildcat head coach Kevin Rigby said Saturday's ending was how games that go into the sudden-death "golden goal" format typically go.
      "The first team to make a mistake usually pays for it. We made a mistake and they finished it off," Rigby said. "It was well-played by both teams. It was a great finals."
      East's experience might have been the difference, Rigby said, noting the Leopards' 15 seniors.
      The Wildcats only have four seniors on the roster, youth that gives Rigby hope for next year despite the bitter loss.
      The two teams went back and forth without scoring for the first 31 minutes of the contest before the Wildcats' Kassidy Christensen scored off a corner kick put-in play by Kelly Robinson.
      East didn't take long to retaliate. After Reineke sent one shot sailing over the crossbar almost two minutes later, she followed shortly after with a low drive that glanced off Andersen's hands en route to the back of the net.
      The score remained 1-1 at the half. East came out firing in first five minutes of the the second half, but the Wildcats held them off before Reineke lofted a perfect corner kick for senior forward Laura Ellison to head the ball in before keeper Heather Joye could block it with 17:49 remaining.
      Woods Cross gave itself a chance to win it still less than 10 minutes later, when Kelly Robinson notched a goal in the aftermath of another corner kick to tie it at 2-all.
      That was all the scoring before overtime, when East's experience kicked in, Kernodle said.
      "They've been through the wars before," he said. "It's like their T-shirts (say): One Team, One Chance . . . Refuse to Lose."

E-mail: RBurton@desnews.com