Sandy • Avery Calton wasn't about to let another chance pass her up.

The Ogden forward had held back on some shots the night before at Park City and regretted her hesitation. So when she broke from a defender and saw an opportunity early in her team's biggest game, she ripped a shot.

"It wasn't my best," Calton said. "But you miss 100 percent of the shots you don't take."

The junior's goal in the ninth minute of the Class 3A soccer championship was the difference in the Tigers' 1-0 win over Cedar on Saturday afternoon at Rio Tinto Stadium. Ogden finished its quest for its first title since 2001, an odyssey few outside of the program believed possible for the Tigers.

"Nobody expected this from them, nobody ranked them, nobody thought they were going anywhere," coach Jason Steiner said. "They all have the number 497 written on themselves — it's what all their jerseys add up to when you put them together. That's because these girls knew they couldn't do this without each other."

They certainly couldn't have done it without Calton's early score on Cedar goalkeeper Tara Shipp, an all-state player who was otherwise immaculate. Kiley Porter's feed to Calton helped give her a one-on-one matchup with Shipp that gave her all the space she needed to knock in the score.

It's been Ogden's signature style all year — to keep opponents stuck in their own defensive third of the field with aggressiveness. The Tigers executed, keeping Cedar on its heels for most of the game.

In the second half, Cedar launched an offensive of its own. Adrienne Beazer and Makayla Warby threatened from the wings, but a physical defense that's allowed only 10 goals all year came up with its 12th shutout of the season.

"I think that goal helped us keep up our intensity," keeper Kelsey East said. "Putting up pressure is our No. 1 priority. It helped motivate us that we knew we could do it if we just held on."

It was a bitter ending for a Cedar team that ambushed defending champ Juan Diego the night before and had its sights set high. The game became intensely physical as time ticked away, and two Cedar defenders came off with yellow cards.

But coach Scott Kamachi was optimistic. The team graduates only four seniors and should be competitive again in 2012.

"There's a lot of excitement in Cedar City right now about soccer," he said. "This is not our last time here."

There was plenty of excitement about soccer in Ogden for a team that has won it all for the first time in a decade. For Calton, it was a bit of self-atonement. A nagging hip injury had kept her out of the cross-country championships on Wednesday. Without her, and despite being nationally ranked, the team finished third behind winner Park City.

The junior was glad that when she looks back on the 2011 season, she'll have something to smile about.

"Losing state in cross-country broke our hearts, and it hurt to know I couldn't be there," Calton said. "There were generations of people from Ogden counting on us. I knew that if we didn't win this game, it would be something that would stick around for a while. It was all or nothing."

kgoon@sltrib.comTwitter: @kylegoon —

Highlights

R Ogden wins its first soccer championship in a decade by beating Cedar 1-0.

• Junior forward Avery Calton kicks the deciding goal in the ninth minute.

• Kelsey East and the Ogden defense maintain the shutout and end the season with only 10 goals allowed.