Patrick Carr, Standard-Examiner
Davis High girls soccer players celebrate beating Farmington in the 6A state championship game Friday, Oct. 21, 2022, at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman.
With the conclusion of the high school girls soccer season, here are three thoughts and observations about the 2022 season.
THE BEST TEAM DOESN’T ALWAYS WIN THE TITLE
Two No. 1 seeds in the girls soccer playoffs were arguably the best teams in their respective classifications all year.
Bonneville and Lone Peak were both 16-0. Both teams lost before the state championship game, the Lakers in the second round and LP in the semifinals.
The best team in August and September isn’t always the best team in October. No. 1 seeds won this year’s 4A and 3A titles, but that wasn’t the case in 6A, 5A or 2A.
Since the UHSAA turned to the RPI seeding system in 2019, No. 1 seeds are 6-8 in state championship games and have missed the title game six times.
Since the RPI came along, No. 2 seeds have won eight championships of the 20. Listed below are records of seeded teams in state soccer championship games in the RPI era.
- 1 seeds: 6-8
- 2 seeds: 8-4
- 3 seeds: 2-1
- 4 seeds: 1-0
- 5 seeds: 1-3
- 6 seeds: 0-3
- 7 seeds: 1-0
- 8 seeds: 0-1
- 9 seeds: 0-0
- 10 seeds: 1-0
In 6A, the four RPI-era title games have featured No. 2 and No. 5 seeds three separate times, with a no. 1 and a no. 7 seed being the only others.
Davis High became the first No. 7 seed to advance to and win a state championship game when it beat Farmington last week. The Darts weren’t the best team in 6A in August or September, but they were the best for a four-game stretch in mid-October.
The least predictable seems to be 5A. A No. 6 seed has gone to the 5A title game twice, while the other six participants have been Nos. 1, 2, 4, 5, 8 and 10. This year’s 5A final featured the first time either a No. 8 (Bountiful) or No. 10 (Skyline) seed played for a championship.
A 5A No. 1 seed won the title in 2021, but the other three top-seeded 5A teams have lost in the second round twice and the quarterfinals once. Those other three top-seeded 5A teams are, oddly, Region 5 champions Bonneville (2022), Viewmont (2020) and Farmington (2019).
The top seed in 4A has gone to all four title games, while the Nos. 2 and 3 seeds have each gone twice. Similarly in 3A, the top seed has appeared in all four title games since 2019, facing off twice against a No. 2 seed and once against No. 3 and No. 6.
In 2A, it’s been 1 vs. 2 each year, with the No. 2 seed holding a 3-1 record in those games.
On top of no. 1 seeds winning less than half of the championship games they play in, unbeaten teams winning state titles aren’t that common. In that regard, Davis’ back-to-back unbeaten seasons in 2015-16 are sort of an anomaly.
Listed below are teams that went undefeated in the regular season since 2016, and how they did in the playoffs.
- 2022: Bonneville (second round), Lone Peak (semifinal)
- 2021: Skyline (champions), Cedar Valley (quarterfinal)
- 2018: American Fork (quarterfinal), Rowland Hall (champions)
REALIGNMENT LOOMS, COULD CHANGE A LOT
The UHSAA does its biennial realignment later this fall, bringing its normal amount of changes to the prep sports landscape.
The water is muddy up north, where Regions 1, 5 and even 13 could look a lot different or look quite the same.
Some questions to think about:
Will Roy be in Region 2 or be small enough to go to 5A Region 5, which is where the school has wanted to be since moving up to 6A in 2019?
Will Northridge stay in Region 5 or will the Knights be big enough that they’ll be forced back to 6A, likely in Region 1?
Does Clearfield look at Region 2 after seeing Roy’s experience? The Falcons just had their best girls soccer season since 2014, which was a 7-11 record with a home playoff win.
With a stunted 4A classification of just 13 schools, the UHSAA’s board of trustees may want to get 4A back to 20 or so schools this time.
Does the board pull from 5A, 3A or both to do so? Do Bonneville, Ogden, Ben Lomond and/or Morgan change classifications? Bonneville fits well in Region 5, 3A has been better for all of Ogden and Ben Lomond’s sports, while Morgan also probably wants to stay in 3A.
What happens in two years when West Field High opens in Taylor, directly pulling students from Fremont High and Roy (and indirectly affecting Weber’s boundaries, too)?
The school comes online in the middle of an alignment, sort of like Farmington did in 2018. Since it’s pulling from two 6A schools, West Field would likely open in 5A — with about 1,500 students, according to the Weber School District — before getting big enough for 6A a year or two later.
A CLOUDY LOOK AHEAD AT 2023
With the caveat of realignment possibly shaking things around, here’s a way-to-early look at regional outlooks in 2023.
Region 1: Expect a competitive region next year like always, but maybe not as down-to-the-wire as this year, where Farmington won the region at 9-3 and three teams finished 8-4.
FHS should return most of its starters, but the Phoenix did graduate its best players, senior forward Swayzee Arnell and midfield captain Whitney Avei.
Three teams pushed Farmington in the region: Syracuse, Davis and Layton.
Syracuse graduates its top two scorers, Cortney Cobabe and Abby Schofield, and its top two defensive players, defender Dakota Merino and goalkeeper Madi Paulsen. The Titans find ways to finish in the top half of the region no matter what.
Davis and Layton are the same way. Davis may graduate its best players, Emery Jacobs and Olivia Flint, but the Darts are a girls soccer institution at this point.
Likewise, Layton entered this year with very few experienced players and ended up a game out of first place in the region.
All but one of Fremont’s top goalscorers this year were seniors, so the Silverwolves could be inexperienced and/or young apart from Ashlyn Gwynn (eight goals, eight assists in 2022).
Weber and Clearfield are in similar positions, with a handful of expected returners (Callie Price at Weber, Cassidy Andrews at Clearfield) and a handful of key graduations they’ll have to figure out.
Region 5: It looks more open next year. Bonneville went unbeaten in the region, but graduated an influential senior class headlined by four Division-I players (Summer Diamond, Gracie East, Ashlyn Price and Sadie Beardall).
The three south Davis County schools finished 5-5 in the region, tied for second, so one of them could vault in as a favorite. Bonneville could still be pretty good next year, but the Lakers probably won’t be a wrecking ball like in 2022 (and heck, they might be in 4A anyway).
Northridge (again, might not be in the region next year) got its goals and assists from sophomores and seniors this year, so the Knights should have some good returners and be competitive again. Of their six regional losses, five were either by one goal or in a penalty shootout.
Like Northridge, Box Elder will be hoping to translate non-region success into Region 5.
The Bees graduated midfielder Sarena Mackley but should return leading scorer Kaydence Barber next year. One area of focus next year may be defense, as Box Elder allowed 31 goals in 10 region games (the most in the region).
Region 13: Ogden and Morgan should tussle for the region title again, assuming they’re both in the region. Ogden should return practically everyone, although the Tigers will definitely miss senior defender Aya Obayashi.
Morgan should return several, but not all, starters including forward Kaydence Wardell, defender Emma Toone and goalkeepers Madison Wangsgard and Miya Turner.
Connect with reporter Patrick Carr via email at [email protected], Twitter @patrickcarr_ and Instagram @standardexaminersports.
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