Overtime loss costs Jawhawks state soccer championship berth

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OGDEN – After coming off a region win and an undefeated season, the St. Joseph Catholic High School boys soccer team were hoping for great things in the state tournament. In many ways those hopes came to fruition, even though a state title ultimately evaded them.

After a bye in the first round of 2A state play, the Jayhawks beat the American Heritage Patriots 8-0 on May 5, then went on to defeat Layton Christian Academy 2-1 in the quarterfinals at home on May 8.

At the May 17 semifinal match against Waterford at Juan Diego Catholic High School, things were looking good. Although nerves seemed to get the better of players the first half of the game, “our boys dug in and I feel like they controlled the play almost the entire second half and were able to find a goal finally at the end after so many shots that were just barely off,” assistant coach JD Parry said.

That goal came out of a corner kick by Edward Ramirez; he passed the ball to midfielder Ozzy Escalona, who scored. This led to an overtime shootout, which the Ravens won 3-2, laying to rest the Jayhawks’ hope of a state title.

“I think we missed an opportunity because I feel like we did control the play,” Parry said. “The possession was ours; we had a lot more shots, our keeper didn’t have to make a whole lot of saves. What we saw in the overtime was our boys had extreme fatigue.”

Still, this is the deepest into the state tournaments St. Joseph has gotten in recent years. Parry and his brother, head coach Clay Parry, have high hopes for next year.

Several team members made significant contributions to the Jayhawks’ success this season, he said.

Brothers Edward and Johnny Ramirez were leaders in goals and assists.

“Both played the midfield and just controlled it and scored and assisted,” Parry said.

Armando Escobedo was the key to St. Joseph’s defense, he said. “We gave up a total of just eight goals the entire season.”

Escalona was also a dominant player, while Ricky Aparicio was able to score multiple goals this season and was able to be the focal point of the Jayhawks defense, Parry said. “The ball moved through him as we went forward.”

Although a state championship was not in the cards for the Jayhawks this season, Parry is confident the team will be playing in the state finals next year because only two team members are graduating.

“I think our chances are even better than this year,” he said. “I think with the rest of them coming back I think we could have an even more dominant team next year.”