High school boys soccer: East snaps 20-year title drought with 4A championship win over top-seed Murray

East players hoist the trophy after East won against Murray during the 4A boys soccer state championship game at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman on Friday, May 22, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News East High’s soccer crest is going to need a refresh this summer, and the program couldn’t be happier. Its current crest features three stars, all paying tribute to legendary coach Mike Kernodle who passed away in 2007.

He won two titles with East’s girls soccer team in 1999 and 2004, and then one with the boys team in 2006. It’s time for a fourth star now though. East avenged a pair of one-goal regular season losses to Murray with a tense 2-1 victory in Friday’s 4A state champions at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman, clinching the school’s first soccer title in two decades.

Former East coach Rudy Schenk — who replaced coach Kernodle during the 2007 spring season when Kernodle passed away after a long battle with liver disease — addressed the team prior to the game, current coach Javier Viana said. “Coach Rudy, who coached with Coach K, and he comes to all our games and he really, really wants us to do well, today he told us Coach K is with us,” said Viana, who replaced Schenk in 2023. “It’s been 20 years, it’s time to get another one, and it just happened.

I don’t know, it just seems so surreal right now. ” East players hoist the trophy after East won against Murray during the 4A boys soccer state championship game at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman on Friday, May 22, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News East’s Joe Cooley (5) prepares to kick the ball out from going in the net, stopping Murray from scoring during the 4A boys soccer state championship game at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman on Friday, May 22, 2026.