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Spanish Fork • Waterford could have had plenty of excuses to lose to defending 2A boys' soccer champion American Leadership Academy on Saturday.

The Ravens were on the road against the unbeaten Eagles on a blustery and at times rainy afternoon. As a second-place team, Waterford got an earlier than expected shot at the team that defeated it on penalty kicks in last year's title game. And the game was delayed 30 minutes for the head referee to show up.

None of that mattered as the Ravens took a decisive 6-0 victory behind two goals from Austin Whitely, some great setup play by senior star Patrick Dowd and a superior defensive effort.

"The boys absolutely got up for this game," said Waterford coach George Shirley. "It was tough to play in this environment. How well we start has been troublesome for us this season. Credit to the boys for coming out incredibly well and possessing the ball. I could not have asked for better execution."

Dowd, who scored the game's first goal with some nifty ballhandling less than five minutes in, said the Ravens came out ready to play.

"We were looking forward to this game all season," he said. "They were unbeaten and we knew they were a tough team. Everybody got involved. We were pumped. That 30-minute delay of the game had us nervous, but it also got us pumped."

Waterford was the aggressor much of the game and missed opportunities to score before Cale Lopez found Whitely racing toward the goal over 16 minutes into the game to give Waterford a 2-0 halftime lead.

Seconds after Daniel Beesley put a rebound shot in, Whitely got his second goal from the left side to make it 4-0.

"I was just crashing the goal hard," said Whitely. "The keeper was bobbling the ball and I was able to finish and put it in the back of the net. … This was our best game so far, but we are in this for the championship."

Lopez scored the fifth goal and Robert Wood added an insurance score to complete the surprisingly easy victory.

Waterford, which finished second to South Summit in 2A North, has outscored its first two state tournament foes 12-0. With the Wildcats upset in the first round, the Ravens look strong going into the semifinals.

In other 2A quarterfinals Saturday, Providence Hall knocked off Millard 3-2, Wasatch Academy blanked St. Joseph 2-0 and Manti beat Layton Christian 3-1.

wharton@sltrib.com Twitter @tribtomwharton —

Storylines

P Waterford upsets defending champion and unbeaten ALA to avenge a penalty-kick loss in last season's 2A state title game.

• Austin Whitely scores twice for the Ravens.

• Waterford has a 12-0 edge in its first two state soccer games this year.