Good morning lacrosse fans. Thank you for taking time out of your day for the Utah Lax Report. Don’t forget to forward to a friend, it’s the best way for the newsletter to grow.
I originally had written this entire newsletter and was going to include this tweet at the bottom, but it belongs at the top. It belongs at the top because of the message Paul Carcaterra portrays about his friend, Rob Kavovit. It belongs at the top because as you listen to what Carc says, I’m sure someone will come to mind that has changed your life. It belongs at the top because I’ve been fortunate enough to have people change my life and most of them are in the lacrosse community. Kavovit was a Syracuse lacrosse legend and so much more. If you take away one thing from this newsletter, please let it be this:
Interview with Walker Bateman
One of those people in my life who changed my life for the better is Walker Bateman. I don’t want to spoil the podcast, but in essence, Walker came to my group of friends in Jan/Feb of 2000 in the halls of Highland High School and asked one of them, Paul Jones, if he was playing lacrosse this Spring. Paul said yes, and Walker asked Mark Hepworth if he was playing. Mark said he was and then Mark turned to me and told me I should play and that I would be good at defense. Well, that moment led to today. It led to you reading this newsletter and listening to this podcast. I’ll never forget watching Walker win five consecutive face-offs and score five consecutive goals within about 50 seconds.
Walker coaching at Highland in 2011
Walker (left) in Japan with the USA West team with Justin Bokmeyer who played at Army.
You can listen to the latest podcast above or on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Don’t forget to subscribe and leave a rating!
While you’re out and about at games, stop by Vessel Kitchen. You won’t be disappointed. It’s owned and operated by lacrosse players/coaches/fans and fuels the Utah Lax Report.
Week 2 Coaches Polls
No.1 Corner Canyon continues to dominate on the field with a 20-6 win over Green Canyon on Wednesday followed by a 13-2 win over No. 5 (then No. 3) Mountain Ridge on Friday. This week will be the last non-region games for the Chargers as they take on No. 2 Park City on Tuesday and No. 8 Brighton on Friday. Their closest margin of victory is currently 11 goals which is an incredible feat. Highlights from the Corner Canyon v. Mountain Ridge game below:
No. 2 Park City hosts No. 1 Corner Canyon on Tuesday then heads to American Fork for a showdown against No. 10 American Fork.
No. 3 Farmington moved up in the polls after beating No. 8 (then No. 3) Brighton on Monday, 10-8. Farmington then bested Skyline, 17-7 on Friday. Adding Davis Roche to the mix after an injury last year will help the Farmington offense. The Phoenix open region play against Box Elder and Viewmont this week.
No. 4 Olympus bested Herriman, 22-4, on Tuesday then beat Westlake, 15-2, on Thursday. The Titan defense has allowed just 13 goals in 3 games. Olympus will travel to Skyridge on Tuesday then Sky View on Thursday.
Mountain Ridge Defenseman Jacob Walsh
No. 5 Mountain Ridge bested Timpview on Monday, 13-11, shutout Orem on Thursday, 21-0, then lost to Corner Canyon, 13-2, on Friday. I was really impressed with the Sentinels from the sidelines on Friday and suspect they could run the table until the last game of the season against No. 2 Park City on May 8th.
No. 6 Lone Peak beat Brighton on Tuesday, 16-15, in overtime. Midfielder Garrett Haas had 13 goals including the game-winner in OT. Let that sink in for a minute. Ready for the next crazy stat? He only took 18 shots. 13 goals on 18 shots. Wow. I dug through the utahlax.org archives back to 2011 and found the closest effort was in 2018 when Box Elder attackman Jack Earley had 11 goals (and 4 assists) against Syracuse. There were plenty of games where point totals eclipsed 10 but Earley is the only one I could find with double digit goals. It’s not like Lone Peak ran the score up, they literally needed overtime to win. If anyone has records from before 2011 let me know. I suspect it’s a state record, and if not, certainly in the top 5. The Knights then beat Sky View on Friday, 17-0. Lone Peak will host Salem Hills on Tuesday.
No. 7 Davis beat Roy, 16-5, on Tuesday then beat Northridge, 12-7, on Thursday. The Darts sit at 3-0 and travel to Fremont (also 3-0) on Tuesday for a key Region 1 showdown with the winner taking the top spot in-region. The Darts will host Clearfield on Thursday.
No. 8 Brighton - It was a wild opening to the season for the Bengals when they played its first game on Friday, 3/12, a 8-7 win over Alta, then traveled to Farmington on Monday, losing 10-8, then on Tuesday went to Lone Peak and lost in OT, 16-15. The Bengals host Cedar Valley on Tuesday then gear up to host No. 1 Corner Canyon on Friday. The Bengals have one of the toughest (if not the toughest) schedules. As it sits today, the Bengals play No. 1 Corner Canyon (3/26), No. 2 Park City (4/27), No. 3 Farmington (L, 10-8), No. 4 Olympus (5/7, region game), No. 5 Mountain Ridge (4/23), No. 6 Lone Peak (L, 16-15 OT) and No. 9 Timpview (4/2). For the record, Region 6 only playing in-region teams once in a season allows them to do this, for better or worse.
No. 9 Timpview had a great week which propelled it into the polls. On Monday, a 13-11 loss to No. 5 (then No. 3) Mountain Ridge was followed by a 21-6 win over Lehi on Thursday then a 12-10 win over American Fork on Friday. The T-Birds will host Alta on Tuesday and Timpanogos on Thursday.
No. 10 American Fork beat Cedar Valley, 16-2, on Monday, then lost to Timpview, 12-10, on Friday. The Cavemen will head to East today in what should be a great matchup. American Fork then hosts No. 2 Park City on Friday.
Boys Schedule
Monday
Sky View hosts Mountain Crest in a great Cache Valley/Region 11 matchup. Jonathan Higginbotham leads the charge for the Bobcats with 6 goals so far this season.
Tuesday
I’ll be keeping my eye on No. 1 Corner Canyon at No. 2 Park City. The game will be streamed here. The other game to watch will be No. 7 Davis at Fremont in a battle of unbeaten teams for the top spot in Region 1.
Wednesday
Bountiful hosts Viewmont at 5 p.m. Looks for the Braves to finally get in the win column after losses to No. 4 Olympus (15-7), Skyline (15-9) and No. 2 Park City (18-12).
Thursday
Copper Hills travels to West Jordan for a rivalry game while the ‘Timps’ take on each other at 7 p.m. (No. 9 Timpview @ Timpanogos)
Friday
I’m really intrigued by the Waterford @ Wasatch matchup at 7 p.m.
No. 1 Park City beat then No. 4 Corner Canyon, 14-1, on Wednesday then beat Highland, 20-1, on Thursday. The Miners host No. 3 Herriman today then take on Springville on Wednesday.
No. 2 Brighton beat then No. 4 Corner Canyon Friday, 16-6. (Deseret News recap) The Bengals will host Cedar Valley on Tuesday then travel to Juan Diego on Thursday.
No. 3 Herriman lost to Skyridge on Wednesday, 14-10, then beat Jordan on Friday, 16-5. The Mustangs travel to No. 1 Park City today then host Copper Hills on Tuesday then face Bingham on Thursday.
No. 4 Alta reeled off two great wins this week with a 22-1 win over Mountain View on Tuesday then a 13-9 win over American Fork on Thursday. The Hawks will host Timpview on Tuesday then face Mountain Ridge on Thursday in a great Region 7 matchup. Senior Eliza Johnson is second in total goals in the state with 21.
No. 5 Lone Peak didn’t play this week and moved up one spot in the polls. The Knights will face Wasatch on Wednesday and Highland on Thursday.
No. 6 Waterford beat Provo, 20-2, on Friday and will take on No. 7 American Fork on Tuesday. The Ravens will travel to No. 9 Corner Canyon on Friday.
No. 7 American Fork lost to then No. 3 Alta, 13-9, on Thursday. The Lady Cavemen will host No. 6 Waterford on Tuesday.
No. 8 Skyridge beat then No. 6 Herriman, 14-10, on Wednesday. The Falcons will head to Westlake on Tuesday. Sophomore Haven Buechner leads the team with 14 goals and 3 assists.
No. 9 Corner Canyon had a rough go last week with a 14-1 loss to No. 1 Park City and a 16-6 loss to No. 2 Brighton. The Chargers will look to rebound with two home games against Provo on Tuesday and No. 6 Waterford on Friday.
No. 10 West Jordan took down fellow 6A schools West and Bingham, 28-1 and 19-7 respectively. The Jaguars will travel to Riverton on Tuesday and Copper Hills on Thursday.
Skyline v. Viewmont
Girls Schedule
Monday
Mountain Ridge @ Timpanogos should be a great region matchup. The Sentinels are averaging 19.7 goals per game and are 3-0.
Tuesday
Layton @ Syracuse will feature two 3-0 teams who are very similar on paper. Syracuse has a slight edge in goals per game at 14.3 but Layton has only allowed 12 goals in three games.
Wednesday
Ridgeline @ Roy has the makings of an upset as Ridgeline enters 2-0 while Roy is 0-2. Both of the Riverhawks wins were by one goal: 11-10 over Box Elder and 12-11 over Judge. Roy lost to powerhouse Davis, 19-5, and Weber, 8-7.
Thursday
Like the boys, the ‘Timps’ (Timpview/Timpanogos) will face each other at 5 p.m.
Friday
No. 6 Waterford @ No. 9 Corner Canyon is a great way to finish the week. Waterford Senior Jaimeson Meyer enters the week with 17 goals in two games and is certainly a candidate for the Player of the Year.
College
Mens
Westminster hosted BYU on Saturday in a scrimmage and won 10-7. The Griffins will travel to Ohio on Friday for a showdown against Lake Erie College and No. 3 Mercyhurst on Saturday.
BYU will host Dominican on Saturday in Provo. The game begins at 1 p.m. Dominican will stick around over the weekend and take on UVU on Monday at Noon.
Utah State hosted Montana in a double-header and lost both games, 11-9 on Friday and 20-8 on Saturday.
Utah will take on Mercer at 9 a.m on Saturday in Macon, Georgia.
Womens
Westminster will travel to Grand Junction, Colorado for an RMAC showdown with Colorado Mesa on Saturday.
BYU will host Utah State on Saturday with an opening draw at 4 p.m.
Utah State beat UVU, 14-4, on Saturday. The Wolverines will host Weber State on Saturday at Noon.
Utah Lacrosse History
I posted these pics on Instagram and Twitter and they were well liked! These were sent to me by Matt Moffit, who played at Utah on the 1972-1974 teams. If you have old photos, send them my way!
Utah v. BYU in Rice Stadium
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That’s it for this week.
— Tim Haslam
Interview w/ Walker Bateman, Week 2 Coaches Polls Released