2A champion Rowland Hall will look to rebuild

As she waited on her line for the whistle to be blown for the next shooter, Rowland Hall goalkeeper Ellie Marker knew the implications that one more stop would mean to both her and her Winged Lion teammates — a state title.

Rowland Hall and Millard had played 100 minutes of scoreless soccer in the 2A state championship game. With the two teams so evenly matched, it came down to a shootout to determine the winner. After the normal five shooters, the score was still tied. That meant it was down to a sudden-victory format. Laja Field scored for Rowland Hall and pressure was on Marker.

"It's intense," Marker said. "You just kind of go into your own world, you just shut everything out and get to the ball."

That is exactly what Marker did for the third time in six shooters as she stopped the Eagles' Jessica Wall and put the Winged Lion players and fans into celebration mode.

"It was a tremendous feeling," said coach Jamie Wilhite. "You work so hard all year, and to have it all come down to those few seconds, just one shot, and then to have it go your way, I don't know that you can really describe it."

The state title was the icing on the cake of a fantastic season for Rowland Hall. After playing a difficult nonregion schedule that included losses to 3A's Waterford and 5A's Lehi, the Winged Lion found their playing legs when Region 14 play began. They fired off seven straight wins before falling to St. Joseph in the finale to split the region crown.

The team was led offensively by Tasha Woolley (20 goals) and Lauren Babcock (18). Babcock's return to full strength— she played out the end of the 2006 season with an injury— meant the forward was creating numerous chances for both herself and her teammates. Opposing teams were forced to focus on stopping her, and it opened things up for the whole offense.

Babcock was named the classification's MVP, and Woolley was a first-team all-state midfielder. Joining the two on the first-team were Field and Marker. Sarah Snedaker led the defense from her sweeper position and garnered second-team all-state, and Rose Caston joined her on that team despite missing much of the season with an injury. Hillary Dealey-Thomason was an honorable-mention selection. Of that group, only Babcock and Caston will be back.

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E-mail: mblack@desnews.com