HEBER CITY — Sometimes in sports, David beats Goliath. But there are other times when Goliath asserts his dominance and shows why he was Goliath in the first place. That happened Thursday when the No. 1-ranked Wasatch Wasps beat the Stansbury Stallions 7-0, leaving no doubt as to why they were heavy favorites.
Ben Powell had a hat trick, Isaac Smedley scored twice and the Wasps moved to 17-0 on the season. With the victory, they advanced to the quarterfinals of the 3A state playoffs and will host Dixie on Saturday.
"We played really well as a team today," said Powell. "I was really happy with the intensity we came out with today, and I was happy for those guys who have worked hard with us all season and got to step in and play some minutes they usually don't get to play."
The Wasps got rolling in just the ninth minute when Smedley scored his first goal of the game on a breakaway that just went off the fingertips of Stansbury goalkeeper Ian Thompson.
Powell put the Wasps up 2-0 after he chipped the ball over Thompson in the 17th minute for his first goal of the afternoon, and Domey Espinoza scored just three minutes later to make it 3-0.
In the 21st minute, Stansbury made a mistake that opened the flood gates for the Wasps. A Stansbury player picked up a red card after taking Powell to the ground on a breakaway, and the already trailing Stallions were a man down for the rest of the match.
Powell scored his second goal just two minutes after the red card, and the Wasps took a 4-0 lead into the half.
Powell completed his hat trick just two minutes into the second half as he dribbled through the Stansbury defense and went back post to put Wasatch up 5-0.
"Ben does the dirty work for us," said Wasatch head coach Dawain Wheatley. "He's very physical. He's got an excellent touch. And he makes things very tough on defenders."
Smedley scored his second goal in the 46th minute to extend the Wasatch lead to 6-0, and in the 52nd minute, Espinoza crossed in a perfect ball to Toky Corral, who finished it with the final goal of the game.
The Wasps now turn their attention to a quarterfinal showdown against Dixie on Saturday, and they know full well what the Flyers did to them last season when they sent them home in the semifinals.
"That was a tough one," said Powell. "I'm really excited to play them again, and I know we'll come out hard and give them everything we have."
Stansbury ends its season with a 7-7 overall record.
CJ Pronk is a Deseret Digital Media intern and a senior at Stansbury High School. Follow CJ on Twitter @BigCeeJ3113