Girls: Riverton, Park City, Bear River Crowned Champs
And with that, the 2026 girls season comes to a close.
The culmination of hours of practice, wall ball, film, weight training, treatment, study, bus rides, and games came to a head today at the 2026 UHSAA Girls Lacrosse Championships.
The setting was familiar: Zions Bank Stadium. The weather was as expected: cloudy in the morning, hot in the afternoon, but overall a classic May day.
In 6A, two semifinal teams from last year made the championship game, with No. 1 Skyridge and No. 2 Riverton. In 5A, the familiar red, black, and white of the Park City Miners returned. Their opponent: a newcomer to 5A in the Fremont Silverwolves, who are no strangers to the championship game, having won the 6A title in 2024. And then, ‘The Queens of 4A,’ Bear River once again found itself in Herriman in May. This time, the Provo Bulldogs were the contender.
Recaps for the games are provided by Libby Mitchell. The games were streamed on kslsports.com and can be viewed below. Dane Stewart was joined by Lauren Workman, Kenzie Christiansen and Angie Brescia throughout the day.
Patrick Sanger was there to capture the action on the field. You can view his work on the ULR Instagram account here. We also caught up with each coach and a player from each team.
And last, but not least, Hill & Hill Photography was on hand to capture the action:
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Riverton Wins 6A Championship in Overtime
The Riverton Silverwolves are the 2026 6A champions after defeating the top-seeded Skyridge Falcons, 8-7, in a match that went into overtime, and could have gone either way until the very end.
“These close games, they build tenacity,” said Silverwolves Head Coach Hannah Kelleher.
The first quarter was a back-and-forth between the Falcons and the Silverwolves, with Skyridge keeping the advantage at all times. They led at the end of the first quarter 4-3, thanks to goals from senior Tessa Jamison and sophomore Geneva Barfuss, and kept Riverton scoreless in the second quarter, going into the half 6-3.
In the second half, both teams turned up the pressure, resulting in a bevy of yellow cards for both teams, including multiple for delay of game. Early in the third quarter, senior Maggie Bird and junior Suli Tafisi each scored to bring Riverton within one point of Skyridge. The Falcons then widened the gap for the last time when sophomore Sophia Fife scored, bringing the score to 7-5. Then, with just over two minutes left in the third, Riverton senior Paisley Young was able to close the gap once again with a goal from a free position, sending the teams into a fourth-quarter showdown 7-6.
The last seven minutes of the game were amazing.
Skyridge tried to gain control, but a block by Riverton goalie senior Isabel Simonsen turned the ball over and allowed Bird to run it downfield and tie it up 7-7 with just over five minutes to go. Riverton then called a timeout and came back on the field ready to run out the clock and wait out the Skyhawks until the very last minute.
It seemed the game would be over when Skyridge allowed Riverton to gain a free position for a shooting space violation, but Falcon goalie senior Leilani Fiefia blocked not one, but two attempts by the Silverwolves to score, and gave control of the ball back to Skyridge.
With just 41 seconds on the clock, it was now the Falcons’ turn to try to end the game with a free position. Sophomore Summer Buechner had a chance but the Riverton defensive duo of Ella Frisby and Makinley Nixon jarred the ball loose which put the ball on the turf allowing time to expire.
Buechner made another attempt at a shot early in the extra period, only to have it blocked by Simonsen. With just over a minute left to go, Skyridge was in possession, but lost the opportunity when Frisby snagged a ground ball and fed it to Simonsen, who gave it to Bird, who ran it across the field. The ball was passed to Young who drew the defense out then Bird slipped behind, caught the feed and scored.
“I just knew that we just had to get the ball to our side, and I knew that once we did that, we would be able to score,” Bird said.
Bird and Tafisi finished with 3 goals each for Riverton. This is the first championship for Riverton after back-to-back semifinal losses in the last two years.
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Park City Captures Ninth Championship
Park City once again claimed the 5A championship after defeating the Fremont Silverwolves, 19-9.
The deadly duo of junior Sophia Mondschien and sophomore Natalia Swzajkun took control of the game early for the Miners, pulling the team to an 8-3 lead in the first quarter.
In the second quarter, the pair kept up the pressure, and sophomore Hadley Flach, senior Coco Crawford, and senior Olivia Dalton added to it with their own goals. It did lead to some missteps, though, and to two yellow cards, which allowed Fremont’s senior Kate Jenkins and junior Clara McCormick to score from free positions. McCormick then scored another point from a free position for the Silverwolves with just over a minute left. Still, the Miners led going into the half, 12-6.
While Fremont wasn’t able to pull ahead, or even get close in the second half, they did have some good moments to finish the season. During the third quarter the team had a pair of power shots resulting in goals during free positions. Junior Makenzi Overdiek, and freshman Hadley Jeppsen both found the back of the net. But, Park City still continued their domination, adding three more points for Crawford, Dalton, and Swazjkun.
In the fourth quarter the game took a very physical turn, with both teams being called on conduct and a series of yellow – and one red – cards.
Park City took advantage of Fremont having players sidelined and quickly scored three in quick succession.
Then, in an amazing play, Park City goalie Mckenszie Darling came out of the box, only to have the ball knocked from her stick by Overdiek, who then fed it to senior Brylee Jeppson for the goal.
Park City had the final word though when Crawford score the 19th goal for the team in the final seconds of the fourth quarter, giving the Miners back-to-back 5A victories.
“I think with this group it just has come from everyone,” said Park City Head Coach Adam Ghitelman. “We have great senior leadership, but all the way through from our freshmen, sophomores, juniors, everybody contributed. I think that these girls they found their best across at the end of the year when you want to be your best version and that and that’s the goal always, right?”
Swzajkun had 8 goals and an assist for the Miners.
“She’s been special all year for us almost all amazing players that we have our team, so yeah, she’s just unbelievable girl,” said Ghitelman. “She she’s the girl that when, you know, you turned the lights off and everyone goes home, she’s still out there shooting the ball, and I think that’s a great lesson to all the younger girls in our team.”
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Perfect In The Playoffs, Bear River Wins 5th Title
The Bear River Bears are still the only team to win a 4A Girls’ Lacrosse championship in the state of Utah, after taking down the Provo Bulldogs in the final, 14-3. The Bears are a perfect 18-0 in the playoffs.
The Bulldogs were never ahead in the game, but the score only tells part of the tale.
In the first half of the game, Bear River had control of the ball for the majority of the time. The tenacious seniors Brooklyn Briel and Ella Criddle, and sophomore Mollie Call, were all able to score during this time, but the Bulldogs were able to control the Bears for the most part thanks to defensive maneuvers by senior Alexis Tucker, sophomore Annabel Ashton, and sophomore Kate Andelin, plus the power of junior goalie Brooke Jensen in the net. At the halftime break, Bear River was up 6-2.
The third quarter is when the Bulldogs started to get tired, and that’s when the Bears were able to really pull ahead. Provo was able to score one more point in the third quarter thanks to senior Emma Parke, but after that, Bear River ran away with it, scoring five points in the third and three more in the fourth. Call added to her totals, with freshman Paisley Briel, sophomore Jeanine Webb, and senior Emma Kierstead each scoring a goal as well. The final goal went to Criddle, her fifth of the game, who got it in with just 20 seconds to go.
Criddle finished with 5 goals while Call finished with 4 goals. Webb had a goal and 4 assist.
The Bears continue to get better and better each year and the culture of the program is as strong as ever.
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And with that, the 2026 girls season has come to an end. Thank you for the support!