Pleasant Grove boys lacrosse shows up strong in playoff rout of Cedar Valley
Pleasant Grove's Brigham Burbidge (3) fires a shot past Cedar Valley goalkeeper Freeman Miyaska during a Division C playoff game on Wednesday, May 19, 2021.
Pleasant Grove's Evan Robinson (right) wins a face off with Cedar Valley's Caden Beihl during a Division C playoff game on Wednesday, May 18, 2021.
Pleasant Grove's Lane Berg (right) attempts a shot on goal as Cedar Valley's Jayden Kemp defends during a Division C playoff game on Wednesday, May 19, 2021.
Cedar Valley's (from left) Nathan Banry, Ryker Gamble and Dax Ware watch their teammates warm up before a Division C boys lacrosse playoff game at Pleasant Grove on Wednesday, May 19, 2021.
The Pleasant Grove boys lacrosse team gathers together before their Division C playoff game against Cedar Valley on Wednesday, May 19, 2021.
Two young Pleasant Grove lacrosse fans sit on a school sign to watch the Vikings take on Cedar Valley in a Division C playoff game on Wednesday, May 19, 2021.
Pleasant Grove's Christian Nicholson (19) and Cedar Valley's Gage McDonald line up for start of play in a Division C playoff game on Wednesday, May 19, 2021.
Pleasant Grove's McKay Lindsay (left) fires a shot on goal as Cedar Valley's Nathan Banry applies defensive pressure during a Division C playoff game on Wednesday, May 19, 2021.
Pleasant Grove's James Livingston (left) looks to pass against Cedar Valley in a Division C playoff game on Wednesday, May 19, 2021.
Cedar Valley's Hayden Brown (left) runs with the ball against pressure during a Division C playoff game at Pleasant Grove on Wednesday, May 19, 2021.
Pleasant Grove coach Brae Burbidge watches the action on the field during a Division C playoff game against Cedar Valley on Wednesday, May 19, 2021.
As the No. 1 seed in Division C, Pleasant Grove wasted no time establishing dominance in its second round playoff game against Cedar Valley.
The Vikings took an 8-0 lead after one quarter and got big offensive nights from Lane Berg, Sean Bezzant and Luke Smith in a 20-4 blowout victory on Wednesday in Pleasant Grove.
PG scored three times in the first three minutes with goals from Berg, Brigham Burbidge and McKay Lindsay and the scoring continued through the first quarter. Berg’s goal with under two minutes to play gave the Vikings a commanding 8-0 lead.
“The one thing we do really well is our attacks move pretty well,” PG coach Brae Burbidge said. “When we’re on, we’re on. When we’re off it’s horrible. But tonight we got to move quick. The guys got to move fast and that helped us a lot.”
The lead reached 10-0 on Smith’s third goal before Samuel Woodruff got Cedar Valley on the board. A late score from Doug Jenkins pushed the Pleasant Grove advantage to 13-1 at halftime.
Bezzant scored back-to-back goals late in the third quarter for a 15-3 Vikings lead.
“This is a solid team,” Coach Burbidge said. “The hard thing that we have is we’re just in a ruthless region right now. We’ve got Corner Canyon, American Fork and Lone Peak, and they’re all stacked.
“But these guys are really resilient. They are fairly young but we have a great history at Pleasant Grove with more than 20 years of club play. I’ve coached at PG for almost 17 years. We’ve got a good solid club background and a good, solid youth program. I think that’s what will help these guys.”
No. 16 Cedar Valley, which defeated No. 17 Clearfield in the first round, finishes its first season with a 5-12 record.
Pleasant Grove (6-10) moves on to the Division C quarterfinals and will host No. 9 seed Skyridge, a 12-11 winner over No. 8 Judge Memorial, on Friday. During the regular season, the Vikings beat Falcons twice (13-2, 11-7).
Burbidge said he thinks his team has potential to do well in the Division C tournament.
“We have to raise our level,” Coach Burbidge said. “One thing about this team is when they show up, they show up super solid.. When they don’t it’s a real collapse. But when they show up they do so beautifully.”