By Greg James | [email protected] 

Its inaugural sanctioned season was canceled last year. Lacrosse as a Utah High School Activities Association sport is ready to go, but Copper Hills and West Jordan have both had boys and girls teams for years.

Girls teams

The lady Grizzly team is coached by Angela Western. In 2019, it finished 3-9 and lost 13-5 in the first round of the state playoffs. The leading scorer that year was Payton Keller with 76 goals.

The Grizzlies lost their first four games this season, the first 17-2 against Skyridge, but bounced back to defeat West 12-3. 

The lady Jaguars are coached by Cliff Tomlinson. They have started the season with four straight wins over Mountain Crest, Farmington, West and Bingham. 

They have averaged 20.5 goals per game while only allowing four. 

Junior Sidnee Brinton leads the team with 15 goals and eight assists; senior Ellen Hammer has 11 goals. Junior goalkeeper Lilly Christensen has allowed only eight goals per game. 

West Jordan and Copper Hills compete in the UHSAA Region 3 against Bingham, Herriman, Riverton, Jordan and West. 

The rules and style of play differ slightly between girls and boys lacrosse. In the girls game, physical contact is not permitted, and the players wear less-protective equipment. The girls also have 12 players on the field as compared to 10 in the boys’ game. 

Boys teams

The Jaguar boys team is coached by Mark Officer. He is beginning his first season as the team headman. In 2019 the Jaguars finished 2-19 and lost to Highland 20-19 in the first round of the state playoffs.

They have started this season 1-2. Their first win came against Payson 14-3 in the Bulldog Brawl in Provo. 

Senior Nathan Vogelsburg leads the team with eight goals. He had 17 in the 2019 season. Sophomores William Bailey and Garrison Fletcher have each pitched in three.

Copper Hills is coached by Lovell. In 2019, the Grizzlies finished 11-4 and lost to Fremont in the first round of the state playoffs 14-6.

This season, they have started off 1-2, with a victory over Springville, 19-7.

Junior Logan Kofford is expected to be a top contributor in goal for the Grizzlies this season. In 2019, he only allowed 8.9 goals per game. 

The UHSAA state tournament is scheduled to begin May 15. The girls finals will be held May 28, and the boys on May 29 at Herriman’s Zions Bank Stadium. The Rating Performance Index will be used to seed the teams into state tournament brackets. The top 16 teams will be placed in a division-one bracket, while the remaining teams will be placed in division two. 

The current region format may change next season as more schools form teams.