Waterford eying 3A

While the offense was impressive this season— it averaged nearly six goals per game against all competition and nearly nine against 2A and has plenty of firepower returning — the defense was just as important. The team gave up an average of only 1.17 goals. Katie Crosland, Sally Meehan and Mika Miyashima were catalysts at the back, and all should be returning to keep the defense stout. Add the experience that junior goalkeeper Katie Pelo received, and goals will be tough to come by against the Ravens.

One thing that may affect the team is a loss of players before next season.

"We almost always lose a player or two to some of the bigger, public schools," Dolbin said. "But we have some good young players ready to come into the program as well. I think we should be in good shape."

Where the team will be playing next season doesn't matter to the players, they want to perform. They all love the game and are happy to be playing together.

"We are all good friends that just love to play the game," said Taylor. "This is a tight team that loves to compete. We don't care about who it is, we just want to step out and play soccer and keep getting better."

Although Taylor will be taking her skills to Penn State next season, she knows that she is leaving the team in good standing. The Ravens will look back at their championship 2006 season and smile, but they also hope it is the season that was marked as a stepping stone and not a benchmark of what the team can accomplish.

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E-mail: mblack@desnews.com