Danny Chan La
Waterford happy to make its return to 3-A
by Chhun Sun, Salt Lake Tribune
They were in a world they felt it wasn't necessary for them to even be in. A world they dominated as if they were the rulers. Well, they were. But the Waterford girls' soccer players never looked at last year's Class 2-A opponents and thought, "Easy win." That would have been a sin. That would been the very reason why they shouldn't have moved up to Class 3-A. Cockiness, they thought, never gets you anywhere. "We took every team serious," senior defender Mika Miyashima said. "We thought, 'If we don't take them seriously and if we don't play them as strong as we should, bad things were going to happen.' '' Nothing bad did happen. The Ravens made their campaign back to 3-A look easy, as they only allowed two goals from 2-A teams on their way to a runaway state title victory by manhandling the competition - Wasatch Academy, St. Joseph and Rowland Hall - 25-0 in the state tournament. Now, they're back in 3-A. "It'll be a challenge," Waterford coach Tim Dolbin said. Waterford spent seven years in 3-A, showcasing itself as one of the top programs in that class with an appearance in the semifinals in the state tournament, along with a number of trips to the quarterfinals. But last year the Ravens were "forced" - as Dolbin said - to play in 2-A because of the creation of a new 2-A league and Waterford just happened to fit right in because of its small enrollment. They tried to move up to 3-A, but nope, they couldn't move. So the Ravens spent last season having a "bittersweet" feeling in their stomachs, Dolbin said, shutting out nine teams in the process. But they were allowed to travel outside of their world at times. The Ravens challenged a couple of Class 4-A teams - Lehi and Murray, which gave Waterford its two losses in a season where the Ravens finished 13-2-3. They also gave some 3-A teams a few scares, including taking last year's runner-up Juan Diego to two ties. But in both games, Juan Diego declined to go into extra minutes. The significance of the games doesn't end there. See, Juan Diego finished its season in a shootout loss to Dixie in the state championship game. Dolbin believes his team could have won in overtime with his experienced players. But Dolbin and his team didn't complain once the season started, once the Ravens realized the efforts to move up died. "We took it like champions," he said. "They didn't complain, they did whatever I asked of them." This season, however, Dolbin doesn't think his team will make an immediate impact, though the Ravens have been gone from Class 3-A for just a year. The problem is the Ravens play in the same league - Region 10 - as Park City and Wasatch, teams that made it to last year's quarterfinals. The two teams are a couple of reasons why Dolbin doesn't rank his team in the top five in 3-A. Plus, it's too soon to say what kind of team Waterford will be, since tryouts only started Monday. But the Ravens are returning with four key players in sisters Kimi, a center-midfielder, and Mika Miyashima, defender Katie Crosland and midfielder/forward Lanie Ward. "I can't be for sure," Mika Miyashima said. "I don't know how the teams are in 3-A. I don't know if we'll make a huge impact as soon as we come in. I hope we can take our time, ease in and get to know each other better."