Good morning lacrosse fans. Thank you for taking time out of your day for the Utah Lax Report. If you have any questions or feedback, feel free to shoot me a note: tim@timhaslam.com.
Interview w/ Alta Head Coach Moriah Greenstein
This week I spoke with Moriah Greenstein who has been the head coach of the Alta girls team for the past three years. Greenstein hails from Glenmont, New York where she anchored the Bethlehem High School offense and played college lacrosse at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine. While at Bates, Greenstein set the school record for assists in a season and career. In this podcast, we talk about all things girls lacrosse.
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Week 7 Coaches Polls
No. 1 Corner Canyon - The Chargers bested No. 4 American Fork on Tuesday, 15-9 (Highlights). The difference in this game was the second quarter when the Chargers scored 6 and allowed 0. The third quarter is the only quarter the Chargers have lost this season when American Fork scored 3 and Corner Canyon just 2. These two will play again on May 7. Corner Canyon followed up the win with a 21-4 victory over Pleasant Grove on Friday. A second matchup against Westlake on Tuesday and the first meeting against Lone Peak on Thursday will take the Chargers into May. Fox13 did a video special about the Chargers. Watch it here.
No. 2 Olympus - The Titans continued to win with a 11-1 victory over East on Tuesday and a 15-3 drubbing of rival Skyline on Friday. Olympus plays one game this week when they head to Highland on Wednesday.
No. 3 Farmington - The Phoenix beat region foes Woods Cross, 18-0, and Box Elder, 18-4. Three games this week begins on Monday at Bountiful, then home games against Viewmont on Wednesday and Bountiful again on Friday for Senior Night.
No. 4 American Fork - After a ‘good loss’ to No. 1 Corner Canyon, the Cavemen squeaked out a victory over Lone Peak on Thursday, 11-10, in double overtime. Harry Lisonbee scored the game-winning goal, which was one of 5 total goals on the night for the Senior. The Cavemen will face Pleasant Grove on Tuesday and Skyridge on Thursday.
No. 5 Mountain Ridge - What a week for the Sentinels. It all started on Tuesday with an 11-10 overtime win against region rival Timpview (Deseret News recap). I was on the call with Dane Stewart for Game Night Live Rewind and it was a blast. You can watch the game here. Jack Crawford scored the game-winning goal for Mountain Ridge. On Thursday, the Sentinels beat Orem, 14-2, then on Friday, beat Brighton in overtime, 13-12. This time it was Gavin Gann with the game-winner. Winning two games in overtime in one week is quite the heart check for fans.
No. 6 Park City - After six straight blowouts, the Miners will be chomping at the bit as it hosts No. 9 Brighton on Tuesday and Wasatch on Friday.
No. 7 Green Canyon - The Wolves continue to dominate Cache Valley with wins over Mountain Crest, 19-1, and Ridgeline, 22-6 (Herald Journal recap). Three games this week begins on Monday at Bear River, Wednesday at Logan and home against Sky View on Friday.
No. 8 Davis - The Darts edged Northridge on Tuesday, 17-11, and beat Weber, 19-15, on Thursday. This week features games against Clearfield and Roy. Assuming Fremont wins its remaining games, the May 6 showdown should decide Region 1.
No. 9 Brighton - After beating Maple Mountain on Monday, 23-3, and Skyline on Wednesday, 18-5, the Bengals fell to Mountain Ridge in overtime, 13-12. Brighton faces Park City on Tuesday and East on Wednesday.
No. 10 Fremont - The Silverwolves beat region Syracuse and Roy and will take on Layton and Clearfield this week. Fremont is 10-1 with a lone loss to Davis, 12-8, on March 23.
Other articles from this week include a Daily Herald piece on Cedar Valley, a West Jordan Journal article highlighting West Jordan and Copper Hills boys and girls programs, The Herald Journal covering the Sky View v. Mountain Crest game, and a couple photo galleries from the Cache Valley Daily: Green Canyon v. Ridgeline, Logan v. Bear River, Sky View v. Ridgeline, Mountain Crest v. Sky View girls and Bear River v. Sky View.
If the season ended today, here’s what the playoff brackets would look like:
If we look at the first round matchups from Division A, here’s some observations. I’m generally in favor of a RPI (not necessarily this RPI) but I get frustrated looking at some of these games. Corner Canyon v. Lone Peak - these two teams will have played twice already by this point. A third matchup is unnecessary. Farmington v. Skyline - these two teams already played. Farmington won 17-7 in a game that was never close. Mountain Ridge v. Timpview - again, another region game in the first round. Now, I think it would actually be a great game seeing as their other two matchups have been great, but I don’t love a region game in the first round. Green Canyon v. Brighton - Green Canyon already won this matchup, 10-8. American Fork v. Park City - AF won this game 14-12. Of the eight games, five have already been played and two would be a third matchup. Not great.
What if we seeded these by taking the nine region winners (assuming region standings finish where they are today), using the RPI to seed them, then taking the next best seven teams by RPI. Here’s what that would look like:
No. 1 Corner Canyon v. No. 16 Weber
No. 2 Olympus v. No. 15 Skyline
No. 3 Farmington v. No. 14 Waterford
No. 4 Davis v. No. 13 Timpview
No. 5 Mountain Ridge v. No. 12 Brighton
No. 6 Green Canyon v. No. 11 American Fork
No. 7 Park City v. No. 10 Fremont
No. 8 Juan Diego v. No. 9 Bingham
Only two duplicate games (Oly/Skyline, Mtn. Ridge/Brighton). I also like the geographic implications more with this method.
No. 1 Park City - The Miners played three straight games (Wed/Thur/Fri), winning all three by the combined score of 61-3 including a 15-2 win over No. 8 Alta. The Miners play Wasatch this Friday.
No. 2 Skyridge - The Falcons also played three games this week that began with a 16-4 win over Pleasant Grove and a 19-1 win over Westlake. On Friday, the Falcons bested No. 5 Olympus, 12-6, which is a big win for the Skyridge program. The Falcons travel to Lone Peak on Tuesday and host American Fork on Thursday.
No. 3 Brighton - The Bengals remained undefeated after wins against Skyline (19-0) and Bingham (27-2). Brighton will travel to East on Wednesday and Lone Peak on Friday.
No. 4 Mountain Ridge - The only game this week for the Sentinels was a 25-1 win over Orem. On Tuesday, Mountain Ridge will host Lehi then travel to No. 8 Alta on Thursday. On Friday, they’ll head to Timpview.
No. 5 Olympus - After beating East on Wednesday, 21-2, the Titans fell to No. 2 Skyridge, 12-6. The Titans will take on Highland on Tuesday for Senior Night.
No. 6 Waterford - The Ravens bested Judge, 23-3, on Tuesday and will take on Jordan this Friday. Ravens Senior Jaimeson Meyer sits at second in the state for goals (78), first for assists (27) and first in points (105).
No. 7 Davis - A 24-2 win over Northridge and a 17-2 thrashing over Weber highlighted the Darts week. This week, Davis will take on Clearfield and Roy.
No. 8 Alta - On Tuesday, Alta beat Mountain View, 22-2, then lost to No. 1 Park City, 15-2. The Hawks will take on Timpview on Tuesday and No. 4 Mountain Ridge on Thursday.
No. 9 Herriman - The Mustangs beat West Jordan, 19-5, and Highland, 15-7. Up this week will be Jordan on Tuesday and Copper Hills on Thursday. Herriman is 8-2 with the losses coming to No. 1 Park City and No. 2 Skyridge.
No. 10 Corner Canyon - The Chargers had two, one-goal wins this week: American Fork, 15-14, on Tuesday and Pleasant Grove, 16-15, on Thursday. Corner Canyon will travel to Westlake on Tuesday and Lone Peak on Thursday.
In the paper this week, The Herald Journal covered the Mountain Crest v. Ridgeline girls game.
If the season ended today, here’s what the playoff brackets would look like.
In Division A, if the seeds held true, we’d have Park City v. Davis and Olympus v. Skyridge in the semifinals. I feel those would be some excellent games. Should be fun to see this bracket play out.
If we seeded the Division A bracket by taking the nine region winners (assuming region standings finish where they are today), using the RPI to seed them, then taking the next best seven teams by RPI. Here’s what that would look like:
No. 1 Park City v. No. 16 Ridgeline
No. 2 Skyridge v. No. 15 West Jordan
No. 3 Olympus v. No. 14 Corner Canyon
No. 4 Davis v. No. 13 Syracuse
No. 5 Mountain Ridge v. No. 12 Alta
No. 6 Farmington v. No. 11 Fremont
No. 7 Herriman v. No. 10 Brighton
No. 8 Bear River v. No. 9 Waterford
College Update
Mens
Utah beat Cleveland State, 11-9 (Recap | Box Score), on Saturday. Four Utes had 2 points while eight had 1 point. The Utes host Robert Morris on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. Tickets are available here.
Westminster beat Adams State, 21-2 (Recap | Box Score), on Friday. Odencrantz had 1 goal and 5 assists for the Griffins. Easton Albert (Brighton) had 5 goals. The Griffins will take on Colorado Mesa on Friday in Grand Junction, CO.
BYU takes on UVU on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. in Provo.
Utah State hosted UVU in the Battle for the Brother’s Cup which saw the Wolverines win, 15-8.
Womens
Westminster lost to Fort Lewis on Friday, 13-12 (Recap | Box Score) but beat Adams State, 22-1 (Recap | Box Score), on Sunday. Eden Freiberg (Hurricane) had 12 goals and 2 assists overall in both games to lead the Griffins. Westminster will host Colorado Mesa on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.
Q&A with Green Canyon Senior Mason Anderson
Green Canyon Senior Mason Anderson
My Q&A today is with Green Canyon Senior Mason Anderson who leads the Wolves with 36 goals and 36 assists including 6 goals and 6 assists against Mountain Crest. Anderson is committed to play at Adams State.
“Mason is our cool-headed leader on a team of some really even-tempered seniors,” said Green Canyon Head Coach Troy Oldham. “He loves the game of lacrosse and has played it with a passion for most of his life. He’s also very elusive, he doesn’t move or approach a dodge like he is fast, and then he accelerates and is past you. He’s a natural lefty, but you’d never know it because he works equally as hard on his non-dominant hand. He’s the kind of player that if I pulled him and told him to go get two more buckets, he’d just go do it. I honestly think he’s one of the best attackmen in the state, and his stats are a good foundation for that claim. Lastly, he’s just a really good human being, he’s a leader, and with all his aggressive play he’s very rarely in the penalty box.”
5 Questions w/ Mason Anderson
TH: When/why did you start playing lacrosse?
MA: I decided to try lacrosse after I went to my cousins wedding down in Arizona. They love lacrosse and would go outside and shoot with me to help me get more interested. This was around 3-4 grade.TH: What is your favorite part about lacrosse?
MA: My favorite is scoring G’s and celebrating with the team.TH: What is your stick of choice?
MA: Head: Maverick Tactik. Shaft: StringKing Composite 175TH: Favorite field to play lacrosse on?
MA: Judge MemorialTH: How/why did you pick your jersey number?
MA: When I was little my dad chose it and I’ve just stuck with it.
That’s it for this week. Be kind out there and be sure to follow ULR on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
— Tim Haslam
Interview w/ Moriah Greenstein, Q&A w/ Green Canyon Senior Mason Anderson