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SANDY — Juan Diego’s boys lacrosse team had seen this script before.
After a two-goal halftime lead against Brighton had vanished, the Soaring Eagle may have experienced a bit of deja vu.
It was time to flip the script.
“We knew we had to step it up,” sophomore attackman Blake Davis said. “We knew we couldn’t have a repeat; that was not acceptable.”
Davis scored his fourth goal of the game with 15 seconds to go, and Juan Diego edged the defending champion Bengals 10-9 in the Class A championship game of the Utah High School Lacrosse League at Alta High School.
“It was a great game; Brighton’s got a great team,” said Juan Diego coach John Holmes, whose team survived overtime with Park City in the semifinals. “I was hoping for a little higher-quality lacrosse from both sides, but that’s what we got.”
Easton Albert gave Brighton (12-7) a 9-8 lead with 3:03 remaining in a game neither team led by more than two throughout. But the Soaring Eagle responded. Davis dished to an open Sam Burbank with 2:22 remaining to tie the score, and after taking possession into the attacking third with just under a minute remaining, Juan Diego coach John Holmes called a timeout.
The play call, he figured, would be easy: get the ball to Davis, and let the sophomore do what he had been doing all game.
“We just wanted to get the ball moving quickly, then get the dodge behind and pop it out,” Holmes said. “Blake was shooting the ball well today. We figured, hey, let’s try to get the ball to him and go from there.”
Davis, for his part, wasn’t the epitome of being calm and collect during his team’s final timeout.
“It was intense; I was freaking out,” he said. “I was nervous, and I knew we had to get this last goal.
“We’ve got to get the ’ship.”
After Juan Diego (18-5) took a 5-3 lead at halftime, Brighton came out of the second half with a vengeance. Noah Lund backpeddled into a goal with 5:24 left in the third quarter to cap a 4-0 spurt and give the Bengals a 7-5 lead.
The Soaring Eagle weren't about to let a repeat of last year’s 8-6 victory in the championship game happen.
“They certainly learned from last year, and the seniors stepped up and said, ‘let’s not repeat that again,’” Holmes said. “We were a little bit flat today, but we got the victory.”
Zack Madsen backed down a defender for his second goal just under three minutes later, and Davis capped a hat trick with back-to-back goals in the final two minutes to give the Soaring Eagle an 8-7 lead after three quarters.
Brighton’s Lund dished a screaming pass to Justus Peterson, whose strong swing swished the back of the net with 6:50 remaining for his third goal of the game and an 8-8 tie that set up Davis’ heroics.
The sophomore assisted on the game-tying goal, and finished off a set that went from Madsen’s ground-ball recovery to Andy Schuman and finally into the back of the net for the game-winner.
“I knew I had to get open and try to get at least a shot on goal in the last 15 seconds,” Davis said. “But I couldn’t haven’t done it without anybody on my team.
“It’s not my win; that’s our team.”
In the Class B boys final, Nic Barker scored a fast-break goal in the second half to help Herriman hold off Northridge 11-8 for the championship. Box Elder rallied for a 6-5 win over Timpview in the Class C final.
In the Division I girls lacrosse final, Brianna Baumann broke a 4-4 tie in the first half with a goal that started a 4-0 run, and Park City won its fourth-straight championship with a 16-8 win over Herriman.
Olympus claimed the Division II girls title with a 12-8 win over Weber.
