{"id":611437,"date":"2026-04-18T01:55:25","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T01:55:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/611437\/"},"modified":"2026-04-18T01:55:25","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T01:55:25","slug":"cyprus-continues-bounce-back-season-with-ot-victory-at-granger-deseret-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/611437\/","title":{"rendered":"Cyprus continues bounce-back season with OT victory at Granger \u2013 Deseret News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cyprus hasn\u2019t enjoyed a winning record in region play the past four seasons, but that\u2019s no longer a concern after a big result on Friday, with bigger goals on the horizon as well.<\/p>\n

The Pirates overcame a one-goal deficit at the half Friday, ultimately beating Granger 2-1 on a superb finish from sophomore Julian Iglesias Madrid just two minutes into overtime.<\/p>\n

Madrid said the team kept its heads up despite the early deficit, and was thrilled to put the exclamation mark on the come-from-behind win.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt felt pretty good cause I wasn\u2019t playing my best game, so I made up for it with that,\u201d said Madrid, a winger who worked tirelessly up and down the sideline all game.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Photo Gallery: 1 of 16<\/p>\n

Granger and Cyprus play at Granger on Friday, April 17, 2026. Lone Peak won 5-4. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News \"\"<\/p>\n

Photo Gallery: 2 of 16<\/p>\n

Granger and Cyprus play at Granger on Friday, April 17, 2026. Lone Peak won 5-4. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News \"\"<\/p>\n

Photo Gallery: 3 of 16<\/p>\n

Granger and Cyprus play at Granger on Friday, April 17, 2026. Lone Peak won 5-4. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News \"\"<\/p>\n

Photo Gallery: 4 of 16<\/p>\n

Granger and Cyprus play at Granger on Friday, April 17, 2026. Lone Peak won 5-4. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News \"\"<\/p>\n

Photo Gallery: 5 of 16<\/p>\n

Granger and Cyprus play at Granger on Friday, April 17, 2026. Lone Peak won 5-4. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News \"\"<\/p>\n

Photo Gallery: 6 of 16<\/p>\n

Granger and Cyprus play at Granger on Friday, April 17, 2026. Lone Peak won 5-4. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News \"\"<\/p>\n

Photo Gallery: 7 of 16<\/p>\n

Granger and Cyprus play at Granger on Friday, April 17, 2026. Lone Peak won 5-4. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News \"\"<\/p>\n

Photo Gallery: 8 of 16<\/p>\n

Granger and Cyprus play at Granger on Friday, April 17, 2026. Lone Peak won 5-4. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News \"\"<\/p>\n

Photo Gallery: 9 of 16<\/p>\n

Granger and Cyprus play at Granger on Friday, April 17, 2026. Lone Peak won 5-4. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News \"\"<\/p>\n

Photo Gallery: 10 of 16<\/p>\n

Granger and Cyprus play at Granger on Friday, April 17, 2026. Lone Peak won 5-4. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News \"\"<\/p>\n

Photo Gallery: 11 of 16<\/p>\n

Cyprus\u2019 Richard Crabbe takes Granger\u2019s Jose Landa as they play at Granger on Friday, April 17, 2026. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News \"\"<\/p>\n

Photo Gallery: 12 of 16<\/p>\n

Granger and Cyprus play at Granger on Friday, April 17, 2026. Lone Peak won 5-4. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News \"\"<\/p>\n

Photo Gallery: 13 of 16<\/p>\n

Granger\u2019s Chris Castro and Cyprus\u2019 Alberto Garcia Rodreguez battle for the ball as they play at Granger on Friday, April 17, 2026. Lone Peak won 5-4. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News \"\"<\/p>\n

Photo Gallery: 14 of 16<\/p>\n

Cyprus\u2019 Richard Crabbe battles Granger\u2019s Joshua Bautista and Chris Castro as they play at Granger on Friday, April 17, 2026. Lone Peak won 5-4. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News \"\"<\/p>\n

Photo Gallery: 15 of 16<\/p>\n

Cyprus\u2019 Yairon Perdomo spins around Granger\u2019s Ethan Areiga as they play at Granger on Friday, April 17, 2026. Lone Peak won 5-4. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News \"\"<\/p>\n

Photo Gallery: 16 of 16<\/p>\n

Cyprus\u2019 Giovanni Ramos races ahead of Granger\u2019s Jorge Carranza Gonzalez as they chase the ball as they play at Granger on Friday, April 17, 2026. Lone Peak won 5-4. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News <\/p>\n

The 82nd-minute winner was the result of a quick throw-in from Richard Crabbe, which allowed the lefty Madrid to go 1v1 at the Granger defender. <\/p>\n

Instead of dribbling to the line and clipping in a cross, he cut it back to his right foot and whipped a shot into the far side netting.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were trying to exploit a quick throw rather then letting them set up and defend us. He made one man miss,\u201d said Cyprus coach Luis de la Cruz.<\/p>\n

With the win, Cyprus and Granger are now tied for second in Region 4 at 7-2, both two games behind undefeated Hillcrest. De la Cruz said it was a huge win for the program after a few disappointing performances earlier in the season.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a good one, \u2018cause we haven\u2019t been playing up to par,\u201d de la Cruz said. \u201cWe\u2019ve been not firing on all cylinders, and I felt like we were better today.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Granger, it knew a win on its home field on Friday kept its region title hopes alive, and it played that way as it came out on the front foot for much of the first half.<\/p>\n

It was eventually rewarded for that push in the 28th minute with a great opening goal from junior Chris Castro, his 5A-leading 16th goal of the season.<\/p>\n

Castro played a short corner to sophomore Joshua Bautista, who took a couple dribbles before cutting the ball back to the top of the box for Castro, who uncorked a worm-burner just inside the far post for the 1-0 lead.<\/p>\n

It was the exact type of goal de la Cruiz knew Granger was capable of.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe knew they had some very good individual players, and we couldn\u2019t let them dictate,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

At the half, Cyprus\u2019 coaches encouraged their team to keep pressing and taking shots from distance, and it paid immediate dividends in the second half. <\/p>\n

Just two minutes after the break, Karim Torres curled in a left-footed wonder-goal from outside the box, tying the game 1-1.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeautiful goal, beautiful opportunity,\u201d said de la Cruz. \u201cCame out committed to the game plan, shooting from distance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cyprus kept the pressure up for the next 15 minutes as it pushed for the winner, but over the last 20 minutes of the second half it was Granger that pushed the pace, forcing Cyprus into some key defensive moments. <\/p>\n

Keeper Jasper Tucker made some key saves, including two back-to-back diving saves in the 75th minute to keep the game level 1-1.<\/p>\n

\u201cJasper most often sets the tone even in practice. He\u2019s a kid who works hard and is very humble. Goalkeeping is a confidence thing,\u201d said de la Cruz.<\/p>\n

The entire Cyprus team came out with confidence in overtime, and quickly capitalized as it split the season series with Granger.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cyprus hasn\u2019t enjoyed a winning record in region play the past four seasons, but that\u2019s no longer a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":611438,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[440],"tags":[213420,49,48,230300,230299,3166,561,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-611437","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-soccer","8":"tag-boys-soccer-high-school","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-cyprus-utah-high-school-sports","12":"tag-granger-utah-high-school-sports","13":"tag-news-feed-local","14":"tag-soccer","15":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611437","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=611437"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611437\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/611438"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=611437"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=611437"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=611437"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}