High school boys lacrosse: Wednesday’s 6A/5A/4A semifinal recap, including Davis’ thrilling OT win over Skyridge

Here’s a recap of the six boys lacrosse semifinal games at Westminster University on Wednesday.

Less than a minute into overtime, Dawson Draper scored his fourth goal on Ashton Wood’s fifth assist of the game as No. 2 seed Davis beat No. 3 seed Skyridge in an absolute 6A semifinal thriller at Westminster University.

Skyridge’s Carson Butterfield scored with 54 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter to send the game into overtime.

Both teams were undefeated heading into the semifinal showdown, but it’s Davis that survives to get a shot at No. 1 Corner Canyon in Friday’s state championship, a rematch of last years’s game that Corner Canyon won in OT.

“Dawson had a great game especially after missing a part of the season with injury. This team just believes and plays for each other like no other team I have very coached in over a quarter century of coaching,” said Davis coach Trevor Yocom.

Draper finished the game with four goals, with six other teammates scoring a goal as well. Wood dished out a game-high five assists in the win, while Carter Sant was a beast with 10 ground balls.

Dylan Forsgren notched four goals in the loss, with Tevan Ward adding three.

The Chargers outscored No. 5 seed Lone Peak 7-0 in the second half as they pulled away for the emphatic 6A semifinal win.

Corner Canyon got balanced scoring in the win with seven different goal scorers, led by Michael Wheatley and Pierson Degracie who scored three each.

Ren Neilson added two goals and three ground balls as well.

“We were patient on offense and we possessed the ball. Easton Danes and Noah Dunbar did an excellent job at the face off x. The defense was solid after a couple of early goals by Lone Peak,” said Corner Canyon coach Jeff King.

Unlike its previous region meeting with Alta, top seed Brighton started out hot in the 5A semifinal on Wednesday, building a 5-3 lead after the first quarter and extending it to 10-6 by halftime as it rolled to Friday’s state championship.

The defending state champion Bengals will face the Park City-Olympus winner in the final. Gabe Carrera scored five goals to lead the attack for Brighton, while Zach Anderson added four goals and six ground balls. Andrew Salinas tallied three goals.

“We were able to control the middle of the field. Faceoffs and ground balls allowed us to control the tempo of the game. I thought we did really well defensively making them earn everything. It’s hard to beat teams twice but we made the adjustments from the first meeting and are happy to be moving on,” said Brighton coach Chris O’Donnell.

In the loss, Beckham Horoba scored four goals to lead the way for the Hawks.

In a tight, defensive 5A semifinal, No. 3 Park City held No. 2 Olympus scoreless in the middle two quarters as the Miners prevailed 8-3 to advance to their fifth straight state championship game.

The Miners will face top seed Brighton in the championship on Friday. Park City is 2-2 in the previous four title games, losing to Brighton 10-3 in last year’s championship.

Ian Marsland led the attack for Park City with three goals on Wednesday, with five other teammates recording single goals.

Reece Smith helped the Miners maintain possession leading his team with four ground balls to go along with an assist.

“We started the season as a young squad with a couple of strong leaders. Each day the team’s been getting a little better and it’s been fun to watch them grow,” said Park City coach Michael Persky.

“Today, the defense was outstanding. It started with Max Gordon making some great saves, but the whole defense led by Reece Smith played lock-down defense. We got two early goals from two different LSMs, Wyatt Williamson and Graham Brown. Our offense struggled early but settled in the second half and took control of the game.”

No. 9 seed Juan Diego outscored No. 4 seed Snow Canyon 5-0 in the second quarter, building an 8-2 halftime lead and then rolling from there for the 14-10 4A semifinal victory.

Parker Stolz had great game for Juan Diego’s attack with five goals, with Noah Schuyler chipping in with four goals and two assists. Four of Schuyler’s goals came in the critical first half.

“We were a little beat up, a couple injuries, and so the attitude wasn’t really there at the start, and we just told them, ‘Hey offense, we’re gonna need you today. We’re gonna need to score 12 goals, 13 goals to win,’ and they they answered,” said Juan Diego coach Brad Tack.

“They ran everything that I asked them to, run almost perfectly, and they took care of the man-up opportunities. They didn’t really let any bad shots get to their head, so yeah, I’m very proud of the way the offense turned out and stomped on them a little.”

In the loss, Luke Richardson tallied four goals and two assists.

Juan Diego advances to Friday’s 4A state championship at 4 p.m. with the win.

No. 2 seed Judge Memorial held No. 3 Bear River scoreless until the final 17 seconds of the first half, building an 8-0 up to that point that allowed it to cruise through the second half on its way to the 13-3 4A semifinal victory.

Sean Jerome scored four goals and recorded four ground balls to lead the Bulldogs, with Rome Swanwick, Dylan Hersch and Freddy Gowski all chipping in with a pair of goals.

“Another well balanced attack from our O. Seven different goal scorers. Defense suffocated Bear River for three quarters led by goalie Connor Knight with 11 saves on 13 shots,” said Judge coach Jeff Brzoska.

“It was a great team effort and we are playing our best lacrosse of the season right now on both sides of the ball.”

With the win, Judge Memorial advances to Friday’s state championship at Zions Bank Stadium against Juan Diego at 4 p.m.

“Excited for another trip to Zions with this team and a third game with Juan Diego. We know all previous results are thrown out the window when you are playing for the trophy,” said Brzoska.