High school soccer: Waterford players give coach a farewell 2A title

SANDY — The storybook endings don't always happen.

Not in real life.

Not when so many things get in the way of people's preconceived notions of what "should" happen.

But the Waterford Ravens and their magnificent coach, Bob Capener, got the storybook ending many people hoped they'd get.

At the end of a season in which they have grown immensely, Capener's players delivered their coach one last victory and one last championship.

Capener, who has accepted a teaching position in Switzerland after 28 years at the Waterford School, was joyously doused with water after his players came through in the 2A title game on Saturday at Rio Tinto Stadium with a pulsating 2-1 victory over Grand.

Freshmen Josh Warner and Andrew Campbell each scored once, and the Ravens survived a frantic finish against a stellar Grand team to hoist the championship trophy.

"We wanted to win it for coach Capener for his last year," said Warner, the Deseret News 2A All-Tournament MVP. "We worked hard all season, we thought about it all season. We knew we could do it from the beginning, so we just worked our hardest from the beginning."

Waterford's fans and players chanted Capener's name afterward and cheered for the guy who's been the school's head soccer coach the past 28 years.

Waterford's players then doused him with water moments later.

"It's a silly tradition," Capener said of the shower he received, "but it's symbolic of affection and trust. So if you can get the affection and trust of your team, there's nothing better."

Capener said afterward he would have been happy this weekend no matter the outcome because of how well his guys were playing. But after surviving by the skin of their teeth against South Summit in the semifinals, things came together for the Ravens in the final to give Capener his third sanctioned state championship.

As was the case in the semis, it was Warner who got the ball rolling for Waterford in the title game.

Warner scored off a majestic header to put Waterford up 1-0 midway through what was a back-and-forth first half, and the Ravens did what they needed to do in the second half.

Waterford's backline made play after play to keep Grand's lethal attacking players quiet, Campbell scored a crucial second goal in the 51st minute and the Ravens, who struggled to hold leads all season, held on in the biggest game of the year.