Bear River Bears are back-to-back 4A girls lacrosse champions – Cache Valley Daily

Bear River lacrosse. Photo by Clint Allen

HERRIMAN – The 2023 season for the Bear River Bears can be summarized in one word: domination. The Bears have been a force to be reckoned with all year, boasting 4A’s most prolific offense (scoring no less than 17 goals per game) and limiting opponents from scoring more than a handful of goals themselves. And for the second year in a row the #1 Bears hoisted the 4A girls lacrosse trophy after defeating #2 Mountain Crest 19-7 on Thursday at Zions Bank Stadium.

The game was delayed because of a thunderstorm in the area, but once it got started Bear River didn’t delay with getting on the scoreboard. The Bears scored early and often with five goals within the first five minutes. Bear River built upon their lead over the Mustangs going into the half leading 14-3. The second half played more evenly with Mountain Crest adding four more goals while Bear River added five more of their own.

To Mountain Crest’s credit, no other team in 4A scored more than three goals on that Bear River defense. It was the strongest defense across all classifications of girls lacrosse this year. The only teams to score more than three against Bear River in the regular season were Corner Canyon (the #3 team in 6A), West Jordan (the #11 team in 6A) and Brighton (the #4 team in 5A). It was Mountain Crest’s first appearance in the state title game and they had their full roster after five seniors missed the semifinal game earlier in the week to attend graduation ceremonies with their peers.

With Bear River’s victory, they become the first back-to-back champion in 4A girls lacrosse history. In 2022 the Bears defeated Juan Diego 12-8 to claim their first state title in girls lacrosse.