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Show High Rollers lose finale, face demotion to minors u w , v rev. . , : r ' v 4 : V Jt ft! by David Hampshire It may have been the final game in Utah's top soccer league for the Park City High Rollers. The High Rollers, who earned the right to play in the Major Division this season by posting a sparkling record in the First Division a year ago, may be dropping back down the ladder. lad-der. "I think most of the guys would just as soon go down (to the First Division) and be a little more competitive in the league," said team spokesman Mike Walker. "In a way, everybody's kind of relieved." League rules allow the top teams in each division at the end of the season to move up to a higher division. Conversely, Converse-ly, the bottom . teams are demoted to a lower division. The High Rollers earned the right to play Major Division soccer by breezing through the 1981-82 season in the First Division without losing a regular-season game. But the Major Division was a different story. They struggled gamely through the first half of the season last fall, but then appeared to fall apart in the spring, losing game after game by lopsided margins. The final loss came Thursday Thurs-day at the high school field when the High Rollers went down to a 4-0 defeat at the hands of Pan World. It was an all-too-familiar scene: the High Rollers couldn't field a full team. "As has been our history this year, we did not have enough players," Walker pointed out. "It takes a lot out of you playing short like that." In spite of playing one man short, the High Rollers managed to contain the visitors in the first half, giving up only one goal, and That smarts! High Roller Bill Feiler grimaces as he makes contact with the ball, photo by David Hampshire a tainted one at that. A Pan World player found himself alone in front of the Park City goal after a teammate wrapped an arm around High Roller fullback Kenny Lawson, preventing him from getting to the ball. "It obviously should have been an obstruction call on Pan World," Walker argued. "It was definitely a screen out." But in the second half the overworked Park City defense started to get a little porous, and Pan World added add-ed three more goals. "After a while, you just start getting tired," Walker said. "At the end, we let a couple of rather silly goals be scored." Helping to shore up the High Roller defense was Bill Feiler, a regular on the team last fall but a scarce commodity com-modity this spring. Walker named two other Park City players who performed well : substitute goalie Shawn Hazelrigg and halfback George Mitmi. He said he hasn't seen the final regular season standings, stand-ings, but suspects that the High Rollers will be back in the First Division when play resumes in the fall. Walker argues that Park City does not have a large enough population to sustain a Major division team. "To be competitive, we would probably have to go out and get ringers ... and that's not why we're playing soccer." |