High school soccer: MVPs each anchored their teams in a different, dynamic way

In their own way, each of this year's Deseret News boys soccer MVPs anchored their teams.

One was a stopper, one was a central midfielder, one was a sweeper and the other was a classic central defender.

However, while their positions were different, their contributions this spring can all be summed up this way — they provided the foundation for everything else to work around them.

For that reason, Steven McGrath of Davis, Ian Ramos of Lehi, Sam Naatz of Judge and Dallen Dalton of Grand have been named the MVPs of their respective classifications for the 2010 season.

Steven McGrath, Davis

After attending a national coaching clinic in which the virtues of a flat-back four were repeatedly extolled, Davis coach Souli Phongsavath started to think about whether he should employ that defensive system with his boys' team this spring.

There were pros and cons to adopting a flat-back four, but the thing that ultimately swung Phongsavath in favor of using it was the fact that he had McGrath in his lineup.

As a stopper positioned right in front of the four defenders, Phongsavath believed McGrath could play that crucial position well and consequently make the whole thing work.

Boy, did he ever, and boy, did it ever.

McGrath starred in front of Davis' back four this year, and the rest is now history. The Darts only allowed a total of four goals over 20 games — a new state record — en route to winning a state championship in 5A. They also tied a state record with 11 consecutive shutouts and came within three minutes of tying the state record for consecutive minutes without conceding a goal. (Davis went 971 minutes without allowing a goal.)

There were many pieces to Davis' successful defensive puzzle, but the key piece to it all was McGrath.

"That position is so crucial. The only reason I felt comfortable switching from a sweeper-stopper to a flat-back four was because of Steven," said Phongsavath. "I saw the maturation of him from last year to this year — that he understood the game better and was able to get up and back.

"He was pivotal in us making that decision, and he played that position perfectly to me."