2A high school soccer: Waterford overwhelms Rowland Hall to reach finals

SANDY – Ever since Waterford moved to 2A from 3A, one goal has taken center stage for the Ravens.

The defending 3A champions put themselves on a quest to reach the 2A girls soccer title game and lay claim to a state title for a second consecutive fall. Anything less than winning it all would feel unacceptable after reaching the highest pinnacle in 3A competition a year ago.

"We want to defend our title," senior forward Hailey Karg said. "Go for two years in a row. We deserve it and since we were pushed back into 2A I think we can do this."

The Ravens earned a chance to be crowned 2A's top team on Saturday after dismantling Rowland Hall 10-1 in the 2A semifinals at Jordan High on Friday afternoon. For Waterford, it marked a 10th consecutive victory over the Winged Lion since 2004. Rowland Hall has dropped 13 of the last 14 meetings in the series going back to the 2003 season.

Waterford faced some resistance early in the first half after the Rowland Hall defense – led by senior Jenny Achelis – made some nice stops.

Soon the floodgates opened for the Ravens. Karg broke the ice in the 7th minute when she cut up the middle and threaded the ball inside the left post to make it 1-0. The senior scored the second of her game-high four goals in the 24th minute after latching onto a long ball served deep into the penalty area, finding an opening among a trio of defenders and slotting it home to boost Waterford's lead to 3-0.

The Ravens eventually took a 4-0 lead into halftime when Taylor Ritzman finished a breakaway in the 37th minute by threading the ball inside the left post.

Rowland Hall had brief hopes of closing the gap early in the second half when Achelis made a nice play in the 48th minute to get the Winged Lion on the scoreboard. She collected a ball on the rebound after a Rowland Hall corner kick and slotted it past Ravens keeper Jeannie Woller.

That goal was only the third Waterford had yielded to a 2A opponent all season. Seeing the Winged Lion score on them did not sit well with the Ravens.

"We got mad," Karg said. "We retaliate right away because we get angry if we make a mistake. It's definitely in the character of our team that we take it back right away if we miss a play."

Waterford quickly extinguished all hopes of a comeback when it scored twice just seconds apart to take a 6-1 lead in the 52nd minute.