Jason Olson, Deseret Morning News
As Expected, Waterford Girls Cruise to 1A/2A Crown
by Michael Black, Deseret Morning News
DRAPER — The formality is over. As expected, Waterford took home the 1A/2A state soccer championship with a 4-0 victory over Rowland Hall Saturday evening at Juan Diego High School.
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Jason Olson, Deseret Morning News
Waterford players celebrate after beating Rowland Hall-St. Mark's.
"The girls played wonderful," said coach Tim Dolbin. "They played hard and well and got the job done."
Not exactly expressions of pure jubilation, but that is because Dolbin and Waterford did not want to compete for this new title. The private school had struggled through a couple of years of 3A soccer. It took its lumps but kept fighting and built itself into a contender, even reaching the semifinals last season. Then came the news it was moving to the new classification. With the move, Waterford was all but guaranteed a title: The Ravens were that much better than the competition. Still, the school petitioned to stay in 3A competition. It was denied.
Even with the feeling of slight, the team had to perform on the field all year, and the title contest was no exception. The Ravens did just that. Lanie Ward got the scoreboard moving. In the 19th minute, she took a pass from Gina Soto from the right side and buried a shot from near the penalty spot.
Nicole Taylor kept the scoring rolling as three minutes later she netted one on a beautiful shot from 22 yards. Ward added to her totals on the year with goals in the 29th and 37th minutes. Both came with nice shots from just inside the penalty area.
"They were really great assists," said Ward of her hat trick. "My teammates got me the ball where all I had to do was shoot it."
Although overmatched, Rowland Hall played valiantly. It did something that no other 2A team did all year and held Waterford scoreless for the second half.
"I am proud of our girls," said Winged Lion coach Bobby Kennedy. "We worked hard and played a full 80 minutes."
The four-goal margin was the smallest against any 2A competition, but still Dolbin felt it was enough.
"We did something we needed to do," he said. "We needed to win this to confirm what we believed, that we belonged in 3A all along."
Waterford is still trying to move to 3A and would like to get there next season. It will be looked at again before next season. The Ravens will still be ready for the tougher competition. Eight of the starters on this year's team are freshmen and sophomores.
"We are very young," said Dolbin. "We usually use a player or two to the bigger public schools, but we will be very competitive."
Dominating, scoring almost at will and winning a title, is it enough?
"We would rather take fourth place in 3A than win it all in 2A," said Ward. "It is all about the challenge and the competition."