Powerhouse Waterford Routs St. Joe
by Maggie Thach, The Salt Lake Tribune
DRAPER - St. Joseph's Melissa Frogh went to sleep thinking about soccer on Thursday night. She made sure she ate a good dinner and went to sleep as early as she could. That's how she chose to prepare for the Jayhawks' semifinal game against powerhouse Waterford. Frogh, a freshman defender, didn't know how much work she would be putting in against the Ravens. That's because Waterford controlled the tempo of the game and possession of the ball for most of the game. Frogh and fellow defenders Jessica Brill and Michelle Beaudoin were working overtime as Waterford coasted to the Class 2-A finals with a 10-0 victory. "This was quite an experience. I have two seniors in the back with me, but it's tough being small," Frogh said. "Our team didn't focus on the fact that we are young, but it's intimidating. I just tried to get it out of my mind. Mentality is a big thing for me." St. Joseph, despite knowing about Waterford's prowess (Waterford beat St. Joseph 11-2 in the teams' last meeting), came into the game with a good attitude, Frogh said, even when the game was put out of reach midway through the first half. The Ravens wasted no time showing the Jayhawks why they averaged eight goals a game in region play. Jackie Tillotson scored in the second minute and the Ravens didn't go more than six minutes without a goal until the sixth one. The fifth and sixth goals were both scored in the 20th minute. Nicole Taylor, one of four seniors, scored both her goals in the first half. "Our team has been playing Waterford for the past 20 years, and this is the best Waterford team I've seen," St. Joseph coach Alex Salvo said. "It's easy to get intimidated when you have a lot of 14-year-olds vs. 17- and 18-year-olds." St. Joseph has 13 underclassmen out of their 17-player roster but Waterford is a young team, too. They have 11 underclassmen, but their skill level is much more apparent. "Eight of our starting players are 10th and 9th graders," Waterford Tim Dolbin said. "They're ODP [Olympic Development Program], top club players." Dolbin employed most of his bench in the second half, and Madi Silva scored two goals within a three-minute span. Kimi Miyashima scored the goal between Silva's, and Kristina Karg scored a goal in the 60th minute. Salvo said that St. Joseph can only get better from here because of its youth. Unfortunately, so can Waterford. "It always hurts when you lose a player like [Nicole Taylor]," Dolbin said. "But I'm not worried for the future."
Rowland Hall 3, Millard 2: The Lions started scoring early, getting on the board in the first minute, and tallied all of its goals in the first half. Valerie Ortega scored both goals for Millard in the second. "There were some defensive mistakes," Millard coach George Richardson said. "It took a while for us to get settled in the game."
Finals Class 5-A: Lone Peak vs. Alta, 2:30 p.m. Class 4-A: Sky View vs. Bountiful, 12 p.m. Class 3-A: Dixie vs. Juan Diego at Dixie State 12 p.m. Class 2-A: Rowland Hall vs. Waterford, 5 p.m. Finals for Class 2-A, Class 4-A and Class 5-A are at Juan Diego