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SANDY — Chantz Hower only had one chance to put a ball on frame in the two minutes into overtime of Juan Diego’s Class A boys lacrosse semifinal against Park City.
He only needed one.
Hower scored his second goal of the game with 2:56 left in the extra session, and the Soaring Eagle erased a three-goal deficit to rally for an 8-7 overtime win over the Miners in a Utah High School Lacrosse League semifinal at Jordan High School.
“They were pulled in too tight for my liking, and I was just feeling,” said Hower, who teammates call ‘the Howitzer.’ “I just took the liberty of shooting, and I honestly don’t know how it got in.
“(Park City's) Connor French is a stellar goalie, but it went through his stick.”
Juan Diego advanced to face Brighton in the state championship in a rematch of last year’s title tilt. The two clubs will face off Saturday at 7 p.m. MDT at Alta High School.
Zach Madsen had a game-best three goals for Juan Diego, but none more important than his underhanded goal that forced overtime with 6:29 left in regulation.
“I just saw it, and you have to go,” Madsen said. “I was scared I was going to lose it, and sometimes when you feel it, you have to go.
“I’m glad it went in. If it didn’t, we may not have won.”
Dylan Bauer had a goal and an assist to help Park City jump out to a 4-1 lead with 1:33 left in the first quarter. Bauer scored two of his three markers in the first half, and Kyler Walterson redirected Jack Mintz’s pass in front of the cage to give the Miners a 6-3 lead at halftime.
“We just needed to do something, or it would be our last game,” said Madsen, who scored two goals in the second half. “We were seniors, and we want to go all the way. We saw Brighton win, and I think we just wanted to get a little revenge with Brighton.”
Juan Diego’s defense went to work in the second half, holding Park City to one goal after the break.
“It was awesome; just stellar defense,” Hower said. “We just went as hard as we could, and we didn’t want it to be our last game.
“I think it just came down to who wanted it the most.”
BRIGHTON 19, LOGAN 9
At Jordan, Justus Peterson had five goals and an assist, and the defending Class A champion Bengals opened up the second half with five unanswered goals to pull away from the Grizzlies and clinch back-to-back title-game appearances.
“Last year, we had such a big senior class that was so talented, and we had no idea where to start,” Peterson said. “We worked really hard through the season, and we definitely deserved it.”
Tenny Schmidt added four goals for Brighton, which scored 19 goals for the second-straight game.
Kimball Reece added two goals and goalkeeper Houston Kraenbuhl made 10 saves to earn the win for the Bengals, who were playing in their eighth-straight state semifinal.
“It was a journey, and we had to put our feet down and trust in each other,” Brighton coach Garrett Schaf said. “We knew it would be a journey, and it’s been a lot of hard work to get here.”
Brandon Dodd led Logan with four goals, including a shot from distance that pulled the Grizzlies within three, 7-4 with 2:45 left in the first half.
Rio Thomas had three goals and an assist for Logan.
