2A girls' soccer championship: Karg leads Waterford to state title

Sandy » It takes more than muscle cramps to keep Waterford's Hailey Karg out of the game. If she had her way, she would just play through them.

But coach Tim Dolbin saw her reach down to rub her calf with about three minutes to play and he pulled her out.

She didn't want to leave the Class 2A championship game against St. Joseph at Rio Tinto Stadium, but she had already done enough. She scored two goals to lift the Ravens to a 3-1 win over the Jayhawks for another state title.

"She just has an incredible work rate," Dolbin said. "She gets leg cramps because she's been working so hard. She does not quit. She's very tenacious."

Karg, who will play soccer at

Clemson, ended her high school career with a second straight state title and third overall in her career. Waterford took the championship in 3A last year before coming down to 2A this season.

But just because the Ravens moved down a classification didn't mean the state title was handed to them.

"It's great to have to play a good team like St. Joseph [to win a title]," Karg said. "It's nice to have good competition."

To start the game, Waterford implemented a stronger offensive lineup. That paved the way for Karg to score the Ravens' first goal in the 15th minute. Waterford struck again when Kristen Johnson lofted the ball just up and over the St. Joseph goalkeeper. The Ravens took the 2-0 lead into halftime.

"They just took advantage of our mistakes," St. Joseph coach Alex Salvo said. "We had our opportunities and they had theirs. We knew we had to take some risk."

In the second half, the Jayhawks adjusted and put a third forward up to ramp up the offense. But that risk backfired as Karg was able to break away and slip in a goal between two defenders.

"I had a lot of space to dribble," Karg said. "I knew I just had to finish it off."

The Ravens had a 3-0 lead but the Jayhawks scored in the 68th minute -- a free kick by Megan Pollock hit the top corner of the left post and Katie Panushka was there to knock it in -- and Dolbin knows how dangerous a two-goal lead can be.

"I was having flashbacks of [the playoffs in] '07," Dolbin said. "We had a two-goal lead over Juan Diego and they tied it in four minutes to push overtime and finished us off."

But the Ravens held on for the win. They remained patient, made good passes and took time off the clock.

For the Jayhawks, the loss wasn't too disappointing.

"I'm proud of the girls. They battled and played their hearts out," Salvo said. "We're a young team so we'll be back."

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