With the high-school lacrosse season almost over, Park City coach Michael Persky said he has learned to trust his team.
So the second-year coach wasn’t worried Wednesday when his team lost a four-goal lead in its Class A semifinal match against Brighton at West Jordan High School. Instead, he just watched and remained calm as Tyler Vendetti and Conner Monson came through with important goals that helped the Miners to a 13-7 win and a match against undefeated Corner Canyon for the championship.
Corner Canyon handled Olympus 17-3 in the earlier game behind Eric Nielson’s five goals. The Chargers scored 10 goals in the second period and were never threatened.
Persky said he was happy the title match will be between the state’s top two teams.
“That’s the way it should be; I believe in the (Park City) boys,” he said. “We’re just glad to be able to play, and the season gets to be settled on the field.”
Last year, of course, the coronavirus pandemic forced the Utah High School Activities Association to cancel play just two weeks into the season. Park City had been a local power in the club scene and was hoping to earn a state title in the sport’s inaugural year as a sanctioned sport.
To do it this year, Vendetti and Monson agreed, will likely need to their best effort against Corner Canyon.
“We’re the underdog; we’re the No. 2 seed,” said Vendetti, who scored six times. “We’ll have to bring our ‘A’ game.”
Park City did just that for much of Wednesday evening. Vendetti scored the first goal four minutes into the game and goalkeeper Bo Hathorne blanked the Bengals for the first 1 1/2 quarters. By then, Park City had built a 4-0 lead.
The score was 7-2 early in the third period when the Bengals’ Carter Budge broke loose for a pair of goals, and Walker Harris, Aidan Bruce and Scott Hansen also found the net during a five-minute stretch, to tie the game.
However, it only remained that way for a minute before Vendetti scored, and he added another 50 seconds later. That momentum switch was all Park City needed to improve its record to 17-2.
“Our excitement is off the charts right now,” said Monson, who had all three of his goals in the fourth period to pad the lead.
Corner Canyon 17, Olympus 3
The Titans’ hope for an unlikely upset lasted until the second quarter. Ethan Hartsfield got off to a good start, but Corner Canyon’s talent and incredible speed turned this game into a rout.
It was 14-2 by halftime, and both teams played the rest of the game with a defensive focus.
Corner Canyon coach Aaron Ika said his team includes 10 players from the squad that dominated the 6A ranks last football season, and there are five players who have Division 1 college offers awaiting. All that stands in between is Saturday’s state-title match at 4:30 p.m. at Layton High School. After that, it’s graduation and then most of the players then will likely go back to playing on their respective club squads.
“The football team did us a favor. Their culture showed the kids what we need to do to be at the top,” Ika said. “We’re all about speed. I tell our players, ‘we’re Ferraris and to go be themselves.’”
Blaze Degracie, one of the players with a college-scholarship offer, added three goals. Jon King, Nathan Quick and Blake Franckowiak added two each. Corner Canyon improved its record to 21-0, and that includes a 20-10 victory over Park City back on March 23.
from Deseret News https://ift.tt/2SuVA9t
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