High school boys soccer: Murray, East advance to all-region 4A championship

HERRIMAN — Murray’s veteran boys’ soccer team with 10 seniors and eight juniors has been motivated to get back to the 4A state championship match since a 4-3 loss to Ridgeline two years ago when  star midfielder Carlos Nieto-Rosales was a sophomore.

To get back there, the Spartans relied on a freshman — who repaid the upper classmen’s trust, tenfold Tuesday morning.

Nieto-Rosales had two assists, including finding freshman Parker Lawson for the match-winner as shorthanded Murray kept its undefeated season alive with a 4-3 win over Desert Hills in a 4A semifinal match at Zions Bank Stadium.

Another freshman might’ve wilted at the moment. But not Lawson, the sandy-haired teenager who felt the confidence from Nieto-Rosales’ pass to the moment the ball left his foot roughly 24 yards from goal.

“They’ve meant a lot to me,” Lawson said of the seniors. “They’ve pushed me, and helped me understand what I need to do. Carlos passed me the ball, and for the seniors to have trust in me to take shots like those in games like this is awesome.”

Oh, and one more thing about the youngster.

“He’s smart enough to listen to guys who know what they’re doing,” Murray coach Bryan Demann said. “That’s what makes him right.”

Todd Simister had two goals and an assist for Desert Hills (16-4), which nearly upended top-seeded Murray’s season.

The undefeated season is alive and well for the Murray Spartans, but it wasn't without a test from Desert Hills!

It was the late game heroics by Parker Larson who broke up a 3-3 tie with less than 9 minutes to play to give the Spartans a spot in the 4A Championship game!… pic.twitter.com/2yAbZC89PQ

— KSL Sports Rewind (@KSLSportsRewind) May 19, 2026

That it came down to the freshman’s late winner with eight minutes remaining is a mild upset. The Spartans (20-0) came flying out of the gate.

Jesse Maquin opened the scoring in the 10th minute, finishing a through-ball from Nieto-Rosales to put the unbeaten Spartans on top from the jump.

Jack O’Bryan doubled the advantage, redirecting Colton Demann’s cross from the end line to give Murray a 2-0 advantage.

“I think we were ready to play,” said Michael Martinez, another senior who also scored a goal. “We were excited. We’ve practiced, we’ve watched film, we were well rested, and we came prepared.”

But Maquin was sent off with a red card for a hard tackle with 10 seconds left in the first half, and Desert Hills didn’t back down.

Simister pulled one back in the 33rd minute, finishing a through-ball by Boone Heaton from the right wing to cut the Thunder’s deficit to 2-1 at halftime.

Murray had plenty of opportunities to stretch its lead, but it was the Thunder comeback was on with the advantage.

In the 49th minute, Desert Hills’ Boone Heaton took a cross from Simister and one-timed the ball inside the far post to equalize in the 49th minute.

Less than two minutes later, Pierce Robinson took a long ball over the top and whipped in a cross from wide right to Simister’s head to give the Thunder their first lead of the match.

Still, Murray wasn’t done.

“After the third goal, we just huddled up and had a little team talk,” Nieto-Rosales said. “We know we’ve come far, we know it’s right there, and we just had to give everything and come back.

“And thankfully,” he added, “we did.”

The Spartans equalized through Martinez’s rocket from distance just a few moments later, cutting inside toward the top of the box and uncorking the equalizer in the 54th minute.

It was the kind of shot he’s taken several times during the Spartans’ unbeaten campaign to date. He even practices those shots “all the time” after practice, he admitted sheepishly.

“Sometimes we have to yell at him to stop it,” Demann quipped.

Lawson ripped another shot from the top of the box in the 72nd minute, giving the Spartans the only advantage they would need with eight minutes remaining to keep Murray’s hopes for an undefeated season alive.

“When I have a chance like that to win this game, I had to,” Lawson said. “I don’t too get many shots; I had to take it.”

The Spartans will face Region 10 rival East in Friday’s 4A championship match. Kickoff from Zions Bank Stadium is scheduled for 10 a.m. MT. Murray won both games during region play by a goal apiece.

4A high school boys soccer semifinal: East scores 2 late pull away from Crimson Cliffs

The conventional wisdom of a corner kick is to lob a ball high into the air, send as many players as possible toward it, and hope that some kind of bigger body — even a defensive player — can connect for a goal.

Not for East High’s boys soccer team, though. At least, not Tuesday.

The Leopards weren’t going to try to push around a bigger, stronger Crimson Cliffs team in the other 4A semifinal.

Keeping the ball on the ground worked out just fine, instead.

Alejandro Preciado-Jaramillo took a short corner and slipped a low grounder through traffic and into the back of the net to send East to a 3-1 win over the Mustangs at Zions Bank Stadium.

Jancarlo Vera and Jett Rimando also scored for East (16-3), and Kai Halstenrud-Updyke had two assists.

But when it came to what turned out to be the match-winner, the quickest point between Preciado-Jaramillo and the goal was a low, straight line.

“Those guys are taller. We’re not going to win those balls in the air,” East coach Javier Viana admitted. “So what we wanted to do is just simple, right? Play to our strengths, attack their weakness.

“Their strength is aerial prowess. So we didn’t want  to  take corners — on a pitch much wider than we’re normally playing on — and we practiced yesterday with a wider pitch. We knew we  wanted to play the ball on the ground.”

The 4A Boys Soccer tournament has had no shortage of drama and our 2nd semi-final game was no different!

The East Leopards score 2-goals in the finals 10 minutes to break a 1-1 tie to clinch their spot in the Championship Game!@kslsports @TABBank @NapolesAlex @EastHighSLC… pic.twitter.com/QKT4z9veDx

— KSL Sports Rewind (@KSLSportsRewind) May 19, 2026

Halstenrud-Updyke fed Vera for the opening goal in the 38th minute as the Leopards took a 1-0 halftime advantage.

But Crimson Cliffs (14-5) didn’t back down.

Kaden Parrish pulled the Mustangs back into the game just 47 seconds into the half, converting a turnover into a through-ball to Portman Busk that tied the match at 1-1.

Preciado-Jaramillo found the back of the net with the match-winner, slipping a ball from just inside the 18-yard box through traffic for a goal that set off pandemonium at the corner flag in the 70th minute.

Rimando, the son of former Real Salt Lake goalkeeper Nick Rimando, doubled the advantage in the 78th minute, chipping a long ball from Charlie Spencer over the goalkeeper for the final goal to set up Friday’s all-Region 10 title bout.