DRAPER — David Sanders just couldn't help himself. Even while his Roy soccer team celebrated its 4A state championship Friday, he couldn't stop being a coach.
"We executed poorly," said the Roy coach. "I can't figure out why they do that."
Execution is a moot point now.
Top-ranked Roy won its first boys soccer state championship with a 2-1 shootout victory over No. 2 Mountain View in a game that went to the seventh shooter before Roy won the penalty shootout 5-4.
After Mountain View missed its seventh attempt, Roy's Brad Hansen buried his kick to complete the Royals' improbable dominance of 4A soccer.
When Sanders took over the Royals program five years ago, it was mediocre at best. His objective was never to turn Roy into a soccer power. It was about much more than that.
"It's not about winning championships, it's about building boys into men," said Sanders. "The game is only a tool, it's a work of art. It's the beauty of people getting along."
It never hurt anyone to win a championship while maturing.
When Shaun Woodfield opened the scoring for Roy in the 10th minute on a blast from the top of the box, many wondered if that would be good enough. Roy allowed just five goals all season, a mark that easily shattered the state record of 11 goals allowed by Alta in 1996.
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With the way Mountain View was playing in the opening 20 minutes, one goal looked like it would be plenty.
The Bruins were completely out of sync early in the game, which had more to do with Roy's speed than anything else. Throughout the season Mountain View played with three defenders, but it became apparent to Bruins' coach Dave Woolley that Roy's fleet forwards needed to be contained with a fourth defender.
"Soon as we did that, we shut down the success they had in the first 20 minutes," said Woolley.
The switch not only helped slow Roy's attack, but it reinstalled confidence in a Mountain View team that lost only once all year. Eight minutes after the tactical change, Mountain View's Hector Perez equalized with a goal inside the six-yard box.
"If we had made the switch sooner, we may have walked away here 1-0," said Woolley.
After Mountain View's tying goal, neither team generated many quality scoring chances. In fact, once the game went into overtime, Mountain View seemed content to try and win the title in a penalty shootout — and why not?
The Bruins advanced to Friday's championship game by beating Provo in a shootout Thursday night. They seemed to have a decided advantage over a Roy team that didn't practice a shootout situation until Wednesday's practice.
"I didn't think it would came to that," said Sanders.
In the shootout, Roy's Jeff Martin was the hero. He saved two Mountain View shots and also converted on the Royals' first attempt. Devin Olsen, Woodfield and Mike Kaiser also buried their kicks to set up Hansen's heroics.
Cameron Burr, Johan Muntzing, Tyson Firmage and Brian Hardman tallied Mountain View's shootout goals. Mountain View goalie Bryan Black, who made two saves in the win over Provo Thursday, also made two saves Friday. This time it wasn't enough.
E-mail: jedward@desnews.com