Payson girls lacrosse holds off Timpanogos to reach 4A finals (2024)

It wasn’t the start the Payson girls lacrosse team planned on.

The No. 2-seed Lions faced a solid opponent in No. 3-seed Timpanogos in the 4A semifinal match a Dumke Field at Westminster University in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, but Payson had defeated the Timberwolves twice in Region 8 play during the season.

This time, however, Timpanogos was clearly determined the outcome would be different.

The T’Wolves came out firing, taking advantage of some soft spots in the Lion defense to build a 3-1 lead after the first quarter.

Payson didn’t get thrown off by the early deficit, putting together a big second quarter to seize control. The Lions then held off a late Timpanogos rally to secure the 12-9 win and earn a spot in the 4A state title game.

“I had a feeling we were going to be able to come back,” Payson junior Natalie Rowley said. “We didn’t have a whole lot of time to warm up because our seniors had a graduation ceremony at the beginning. But our coach pointed out that was our warmup time, so it was time to go out and play. I think that really came into our brains and finally we were like, OK, let’s do this.”

Lion head coach Marc Jacobson said he was pleased at how his team stayed focused and got the job done.

“I thought we were a little worked up at the start,” Jacobson said. “Once our girls kind of settled down and played our style, we were good to go.”

After the early deficit, Payson scored five straight goals — three of them coming from senior Morgan Jacobson — and ended up ahead 6-4 at halftime.

The Lions put together another surge in the second half, outscoring Timpanogos 6-2 to build what appeared to be a comfortable 12-6 edge midway through the fourth quarter.

But the Timberwolves weren’t going down without a fight.

“These girls tend to stay together in hard times,” Timpanogos head coach Meghan Hallam said. “When we are down like that, I feel like that’s when they work the most. We played Payson twice during the season and we’ve come back from them leading before.”

The Timberwolves scored three quick goals to put a little pressure on Payson, but the Lions got control of the ball and ran out the clock to secure the victory.

“We know they’re going to play to the end,” Marc Jacobson said. “Once they started getting momentum, it definitely got a little bit sketchy there towards the end, but these girls stepped it up and played a good game.”

The final horn sounded, meaning Timpanogos’s season had come to an end. But Hallam said her Timberwolves should be thrilled with what they accomplished.

“This was huge, especially for our team because last year we only won three games,” Hallam said. “And one of them was a forfeit, so technically we only won two games on the field. But we only lost like three seniors. It was huge seeing the team from last year be the same exact team this year, but completely different in terms of talent level.”

It’s a young Timpanogos squad that will have a lot of players return, and Hallam hopes they learn that anything is possible.

Payson now gets a chance to play for the 4A title, which is a unique thrill for the Lions as well.

“This is the first time Payson has ever made it to the semifinals in girls lacrosse, let alone the championship,” Marc Jacobson said. “As a first-year coach, our first goal was to win region, which we did. Now our focus is on winning state.”

Rowley said that Payson is relatively new to lacrosse and that it’s “amazing” to think they had a chance to get first place.

“I’m so excited,” Rowley said. “My team is so excited. We’re going to give it our all. Bear River is a very good team, but we’re going to do our best and hopefully we do well.”

Marc Jacobson said the Bears have been the standard bearer in 4A girls lacrosse, so his team can’t afford mistakes to have a shot at knocking them off.

“They are top notch,” he said. “We’ve got to play at our top level to beat Bear River, no doubt about it. We are going to have to play a clean game. If we are a man down, it’s going to be a long afternoon.”

The No. 2-seeded Lions will take on top-seeded Bear River in the 4A championship at Zions Bank Stadium in Sandy on Thursday at 4 p.m.

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