Luke Graney c/o ShootingStar Photography

The No. 1 seeded Juan Diego Soaring Eagle scored the first five goals of the game and never looked back en route to a commanding 18-10 win over the No. 4 seeded Pleasant Grove Vikings on Saturday afternoon in Draper.

The Soaring Eagle attack was nearly flawless to begin the game. Tommy Maddox scored first on a great assist by Nick Grogg. Ryan Green followed suit at the 8:13 mark followed by three straight for Luke Graney. Pleasant Grove found the back of the net for their first goal of the game at the 2:13 mark when Spencer Merrifield buried a burner from outside on a man-up opportunity. Both teams scored another goal before the quarter ended, making the score 6-2 for Juan Diego. Read More

Eight teams survived the first round of playoffs. There was plenty of excitement with upsets occurring, solid defense played, and great coaching. I look forward to the next round of playoffs. Historically, Round 2 is known as the toughest round in the playoffs. You are not quite to the Final Four yet, but many a teams look too far ahead rather than focusing on the present: upsets will happen.

Pleasant Grove Vikings @ Juan Diego Soaring Eagle

Juan Diego struggled more than I thought with the No. 8 seed Bonneville team. Hopefully that was nerves and not foretelling the future. Pleasant Grove took on a strong Judge team and was able to control the game through their offense. I worry that if Pleasant Grove thinks that their offense is going to win them through the playoffs that they will have another thing coming. They will not beat Juan Diego through their offense alone. They need to sound up their defense, focus on transitions, and then finish on offense. Juan Diego is looking to find a game that begins some strong momentum moving further through the playoffs. They need to control this game from start to finish. If they try to get into a scoring battle with Pleasant Grove, they might just go home. I expect Juan Diego to clean up their mistakes after the first round and give a solid performance in this round. Read More

In one of the best first-round matchups in the state, the fifth-seeded Judge Memorial Bulldogs travelled south to go head-to-head with the fourth-seeded Pleasant Grove Vikings, and the game did not disappoint.  The battle pitted the Vikings’ precision offense against the Bulldogs’ stout defense, and after a back-and-forth struggle that looked like it could go either way, the Vikings ended up on top, 15-14, to prolong their season.

“It feels great to help the seniors extend their season,” said sophomore LSM Zach Burbidge whose stellar D was key to the victory, “we played great as a team.” Read More

It’s that time of year where everything you have worked for is on the line. Previous records don’t matter. Previous tournaments don’t matter. Previous awards don’t matter. All that matters is the game that stands in front of you. It is “win or go home.” Playoff games come down to three things: Coaching ability, Game plans, and Defense. If you can lock those three things up, see you in the next round, if not, get to work.

Bonneville Lakers @ Juan Diego Soaring Eagle

Bonneville comes into the first round allowing about 10.5 GPG. In order to take down the defending champs the Lakers need to tune up their defense to control the Soaring Eagles. Juan Diego is coming off a big moral win, and literal win, against the Bengals and should use that momentum to run over the Lakers. Look for Alex Croyle for the Lakers to have a big game, as well as the Graney brothers for Juan Diego. The big thing is to not overlook Bonneville, after all it is “win or go home” and anyone one can lose at anytime in the playoffs. Read More

Pleasant Grove’s Viking Stadium is one the best lacrosse venues in Utah with scores of fans, games under the lights, concessions, a lighted scoreboard, and an in-game announcer, and it’s never more raucous than on senior night when the Vikings take on their cross-town rivals the Timpanogos Timberwolves.  The Pleasant Grove seniors didn’t go home disappointed after a game that showcased the offensive prowess of the two Utah County contenders, winning 18-15. Read More

A hard-fought battle between D-I contenders Spanish Fork and Pleasant Grove ended in dramatic fashion Monday night as a the Vikings shot deflected off the keeper with 11 seconds to go and was then flicked in for the garbage goal by Viking Midfielder McKay Daniel for the game-winner, ending the contest 10-9.  The end of the game was indicative of how the entire contest was played: a physical, leave-it-all-on-the-field contest between two deep teams who were each looking to move up in potential playoff seeding. Read More

Samuel Anderson

From the first quarter down to literally the last seconds of the game the Riverton Silverwolves and the Pleasant Grove Vikings played an intense game. It was a game with several runs and lead changes. Pleasant Grove owned the lead for much of the game, lost it near the end, but tied the game to end the fourth. They scored the golden goal in overtime to win. The Vikings won by a score of 12-11.

Speaking about the importance of winning this game, Vikings Head Coach Brae Burbidge said, “For us it’s huge. It’s our first conference game in a really tough conference. We have Lone Peak who is undefeated. Timpanogos is a pretty good team. Then Riverton and us. So, if we didn’t win this, there was a really good chance we weren’t making playoffs. This was huge for us. Huge.” Read More

The Bountiful Braves went head-to-head with Pleasant Grove under the lights at Viking Stadium on a chilly Monday night.  After a hard-fought battle and a slew of penalties, the Braves came away with a big win by using a superb ride, Jace Thomas dominating at the face-off X, and having seven different players score in the first quarter.

“We started strong and it carried us though the game,” said Bountiful head coach Marty Wescott, “they fought back, but we were able to answer and hang on at the end.” Read More

The Vikings of Pleasant Grove (6-5) traveled to West Jordan tonight to take on the Copper Hills Grizzlies (1-3) in their den. Pleasant Grove came out ready to play and it showed on the scoreboard. The Grizzlies began to find their game in the second half, but were not able to overcome the lead that the Vikings had created. Pleasant Grove came out on top, winning 15-8.

As the first quarter commenced, Copper Hills took control of the ball. Within the opening minutes, they had scored the first goal of the game. The Vikings dominated possession of the ball through the rest of the quarter. Thanks to some excellent ball movement, they were able to score five straight goals to finish the first. Read More