Right now the Park City High School boys’ soccer team is in the driver’s seat.

It’s a spot the defending state champs weren’t so sure they would be in after losing to Judge earlier in the regular season. But after beating the Waterford Ravens 2-0 Thursday afternoon, they are rolling.

The Miners were also helped by the fact that Judge and Waterford tied in their last game. So, when the Miners came out against the Ravens, they knew a win would get them that much closer to the Region 10 title. With wins against Judge and Wasatch to close out the regular-season schedule, Park City will have the title and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.

The Miners came out against the Ravens in much the same way as they did the first time they met this season — dominating possessions and controlling the ball. That led to a score in the 30th minute. Park City’s Alex Johnson took the ball from midfield to the 25-yard line before launching it toward the goal. The ball bounced off of the Waterford goalie and Austen Stevens was there to knock it in.

The Miners continued to control the ball through the half and into the first part of the second half. Waterford was able to get a hard shot on the net in the second half, but Park City netminder Jacob Sirianni made the save that kept the Ravens from tying the score and changing the flow of the game.

“Jacob kept us in the game,” said Park City’s Tommy Martin. At 1-1, anything could have happened.”

“When Jake is put to the test, he’s just amazing,” Park City head coach Caro Caro said.

Soon after that, Martin scored for the Miners after sneaking a ball under the nose of the Ravens’ goalie. He said it wasn’t the prettiest goal, but it was a goal nonetheless.

“A goal is a goal,” Martin said. “It’s point on the board. It doesn’t matter how you do it.”

The Miners were able to hold off Waterford for the rest of the game and preserve the shutout.

“My defense was wonderful,” Caro said. “They played really great.

Although the Miners had beaten Waterford once before this year, this time around they were able to cut down the number of penalties and play more cohesively as a team.

“It was a big effort and a lot of people playing together,” said Martin.

Caro added that his team is coming together at just the right time to make the most of the final week of play. Although he would have liked to see a few more goals out of his team, he was satisfied with the day’s win.

“If we control the game and we possess the game, I think the goals will come,” he said.

The Miners had a couple of players that got injured in the 8-0 win over Union last week, but Caro expects them to be ready for the few final games in region next week. After that the team is focused on taking the state title once again this time in the REAL Salt Lake team stadium.

“The Goal is Rio Tinto Stadium. We’ll see if we can repeat,” Caro said. “The way these guys are playing, anything can happen.”