This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Before Wasatch won its second Class 3A crown in three years and weeks before the Wasps celebrated at Rio Tinto Stadium with a raucous crowd, Ben Powell printed off an empty 3A bracket and made his picks for each match in each round.

Powell's bracket remained perfect as outcome after outcome began to roll in.

It remained perfect all the way to Rio Tinto, where Wasatch defeated rival Park City 1-0 to cap a 20-0 season. Powell, this year's 3A MVP, was the linchpin in an offense that was so good so often.

"Ben's a finisher," Wasatch coach Dawain Wheatley said. "He finishes his AP classes, he finishes his church services, he finishes his passes and he finishes his goals."

Powell had 28 goals this season as the target forward of a fast-break Wasp offense that so often looked for No. 10 streaking down the sideline or cutting in toward the box. Wasatch poured in 84 goals in 20 matches this year, and while Powell knows he was the guy known for finishing so many, he deflected some credit, saying the outcome may have been different if not for his teammates and their willingness to work together for so many years.

"We just kind of stayed in Heber and were always on the same team," he said.

In 2011, Powell, then a sophomore, was a holding midfielder on a team loaded with talent up front.

Powell was abusing the net two years later, scoring last-second goals and extra-time winners — he scored the golden goal in the 3A semifinal against Ogden — and drew not one but two penalty kicks in the state final against Park City to cap an undefeated run.

"I don't think we really got caught up in it," he said. "That's how we had our 20-0 season."

Powell leaves Wasatch with two rings, as a 4.0 student and the valedictorian of the Class of 2013. He will serve an LDS mission in Chile and leaves in mid July.

Like the bracket, Ben Powell steps away from soccer — briefly — perfect.

Twitter: @chriskamrani