HERRIMAN — Skyridge's girls lacrosse team walked into the 6A state championship match with an average margin of victory of 19.7 points in the playoffs, including a 23-6 win over fourth-seeded Lone Peak in Tuesday's semifinals.
But it wasn't the Falcons that ran to the title Thursday morning.
Maggie Bird scored her third goal on the game-winner with 32 seconds left in overtime as Riverton rallied for an 8-7 win over top-seeded Skyridge at Zions Bank Stadium.
Suli Tafisi also scored three goals and handled critical draw players down the stretch for the Silverwolves (21-1), who won their first state title since the Utah High School Activities Association sanctioned the sport in 2020.
Summer Buechner had four assists to lead the Falcons, who got two goals each from Tessa Jamison, Sophia Fife and Geneva Barfuss.
But after both teams remained gridlocked at 7-all after regulation, the Silverwolves (21-1) and their comfort playing in close games took over.
The Falcons (20-2) had never played a game decided by fewer than 4 goals. But the Silverwolves were tested, including a 12-11 win over Mountain Ridge in Tuesday's 6A semifinals with Cara Erramouspe's winning goal from a free position with 90 seconds remaining.
"We felt like they walked here, and we ran here," said Bird, a senior who has committed to Grand Valley State in Michigan. "We've fought to get here, and we knew that semifinal and championship games are supposed to be close — they're supposed to be intense. In a game like this, I knew it was going to be a tight one. We've handled it, and they haven't, so I knew that we'd be better prepared for it."
Riverton coach Hannah Kelleher agreed that Tuesday's semifinal — as well as a 10-7 win over the Sentinels and a 9-7 loss to Park City during the regular season — prepared the Silverwolves as well as anything for the season finale.
"Every close game prepared them for this moment," Kelleher said. "Those close games that we had during the season built their tenacity and grit, and they had to go get it done. That's exactly what they went out and did."
Riverton held Skyridge 70-goal scorer Buechner scoreless early, but the Falcons led by as much as 3-1 before Paisley Young pulled the Silverwolves within one, 4-3 with four seconds left in the first quarter.
Buechner found Sophia Fife in the second to help the Falcons to a 6-3 halftime advantage.
But Tafisi completed her hat trick, and Young added a second during the Silverwolves' 3-1 run through the third quarter to pull within one, 7-6 as Riverton held Skyridge to a single goal after halftime behind goalie
Bird tied the match in the fourth, finishing a pass from Erramouspe with 5:31 remaining to equalize at 7-7.
Buechner drew a foul with 10 seconds left in regulation. But the sophomore's free-position attempt at a game-winner was defended well by the Silverwolves, who held Skyridge to one goal after halftime.
That set the stage for Bird's winner, when she followed Young's lead for a set play the teammates practiced time and time again.
"They've worked so hard for this," Kelleher said. "They showed up, they put in the work.
"I think they're so proud of themselves, as they should be," she added. "But it's a great feeling."
