SANDY -- For 77 minutes on Saturday afternoon, everything went right for the Jayhawks.
Those last three, however, will haunt them for many days to come.
Leading 1-0 in the 78th minute of the state 2-A boys soccer championship game at Rio Tinto Stadium, St. Joseph High School saw its title aspirations dissipate as Waterford scored twice to steal the trophy away with a 2-1 victory.
"We played good," said St. Joseph midfielder Dino Soto, one of the Jayhawks' four seniors. "I felt like we left everything on the field."
Waterford, which captured its second consecutive 2-A title despite entering the tournament with a .500 record a No. 3 seed, clearly gained the advantage over the final quarter of the game, but St. Joseph's defense, led by goalkeeper Mitch Koehler, battled fiercely to keep the Ravens out of the net.
"It really hurts to lose this way," St. Joseph coach Derek Tate said. "They come out and beat you by a couple of goals, you acknowledge that they were better, but to give up two goals like that, after we had led the entire game. It just stings."
Both teams traded jabs early in a well-played first half that saw the Jayhawks command a significant amount of the game's possession.
St. Joseph finally capitalized on that possession when Soto was fouled in the left corner, resulting in a free kick, which the senior floated to the goalmouth and sophomore defender Ty Evans flicked it into the goal for the 1-0 advantage.
"I feel like we have a good chance to get back here again," Tate said. "I just really feel sorry for our four seniors who have put in so much time and done so many great things for our team for four years."
The early phases of the second half were very even, but the Ravens gradually started to gain control over the final 20 minutes.
The tying goal came in the 78th minute after missing a chance to clear the ball after a free kick on the edge of the attacking third. Waterford defender David Beesley won the ball and dribbled just inside the box before hitting an angled shot.
The winning goal came in the 80th minute, with a mere 51 seconds remaining as Waterford midfielder chipped the ball over the Jayhawks defense to Josh Warner who drove deep into the box and slotted the ball home.
3-A championship
* WASATCH 1, JUAN DIEGO: At Rio Tinto Stadium, the Wasps earned their first soccer title in school history with a late goal.
Alex Espinoza scored in the 64th minute to provide the title game's only score, topping Region 11 power Juan Diego.
5-A play-in game
* WEST 1, ROY 0: At West High in Salt Lake City, the Royals were unable to make up the first-half goal and fell to the host Panthers for the right to advance to the state tournament.
Jamal Ebbit scored for West.
State 5-A and 4-A tournament action begins on Tuesday at host schools.
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