Time to celebrate: Cedar Valley girls lacrosse gets first playoff win by holding off Timpview
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- Cedar Valley celebrate after its first girls lacrosse playoff win in school history after the 5A first round game at Timpview on Tuesday, May 16, 2023.
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- Cedar Valley junior AnnaLee Wright jumps to get the ball during the 5A first round game at Timpview on Tuesday, May 16, 2023.
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- Cedar Valley senior Kameni Westbroek blocks a shot during the 5A first round game at Timpview on Tuesday, May 16, 2023.
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- Cedar Valley junior AnnaLee Wright runs up the field during the 5A first round game at Timpview on Tuesday, May 16, 2023.
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- Cedar Valley and Timpview players battle for the ball during the 5A first round game in Provo on Tuesday, May 16, 2023.
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- Cedar Valley junior AnnaLee Wright takes a penalty shot during the 5A first round game at Timpview on Tuesday, May 16, 2023.
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- Cedar Valley and Timpview players battle for the ball during the 5A first round game in Provo on Tuesday, May 16, 2023.
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- Cedar Valley and Timpview players battle for the ball during the 5A first round game in Provo on Tuesday, May 16, 2023.
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- Timpview senior Kate Sybrowsky blocks a shot during the 5A first round game against Cedar Valley in Provo on Tuesday, May 16, 2023.
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- Timpview junior Ella McClellan takes a shot during the 5A first round game against Cedar Valley in Provo on Tuesday, May 16, 2023.
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- Cedar Valley head coach Allie Isaacson talks to her team during the 5A first round game at Timpview on Tuesday, May 16, 2023.
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- Timpview senior Mia Knight takes the ball up the field during the 5A first round game against Cedar Valley in Provo on Tuesday, May 16, 2023.
What was Cedar Valley junior AnnaLee Wright thinking as she stepped up to take a critical penalty shot in the final minutes of Tuesday’s 5A first round girls lacrosse game at Timpview?
She certainly knew the stakes.
The Aviators had led by four goals with under eight minutes to play, but the Thunderbirds had stormed back with three straight goals to put the pressure on.
This was also a position Cedar Valley wasn’t accustomed to, having never won a playoff game in the history of the program.
Not only that but Wright had been feeling sick for much of the last week.
In that moment when her team needed her, though, she didn’t doubt.
“I was thinking I can make it,” Wright said. “I know I can make a penalty shot. I know I can place most of my shots. I know I can shoot low and it will usually go in.”
She did just that, rifling in a low shot to double the Aviator lead and give No. 20-seeded Cedar Valley the advantage it needed to upset No. 13-seed Timpview, 14-12.
“It was a relief for sure to think now we at least had that one,” Aviator head coach Allie Isaacson said of seeing Wright score that big goal. “They had to work if they wanted to catch up. I know Anna Lee has probably the most powerful shot on the team and one of those powerful shots probably in Utah because she’s insane. It’s something I can count on her for to make the plays happen.”
Wright admitted with a grin that her first thought when she saw the ball hit the net was that she got a break.
“You don’t have keep running anymore,” Wright said. “You just ran all the way down the field and you want to score so you don’t have to run all the way back. They you are just so pumped. It was so amazing.”
It was an amazing performance across the board for a Cedar Valley squad that is still building a girls lacrosse tradition.
“I’m really, really proud of them,” Isaacson said. “I couldn’t be more proud because we came out here with not much energy and we have three subs. We’ve had three subs the entire season, and they played their hearts out. They fixed what we told them to fix. It was great to see what we have practiced transfer to the field.”
The Aviators went up early, only to see the Thunderbirds come roaring back to go up 6-5. But Cedar Valley tied the game right before halftime, then led the entire second half.
“I think coming in we didn’t have the right mindset, at the beginning especially,” Wright said. “But as we started the game, we realized we didn’t want this to be our last one.”
That drive kept her going, despite not feeling 100%.
“I couldn’t sub out because I needed to be on the field but other girls would go up for me,” Wright said. “It was amazing. They they’re just amazing. Trust is la huge thing with the team.”
When Timpview was making its comeback late, the Aviators got some huge stops from senior keeper Kameni Westbroek to keep them in front.
“Our defense was slowing down, getting tired, and she saved us,” Isaacson said. “We should give all the credit to her because she made some big plays.”
Because of how everyone did on the field for Cedar Valley, Isaacson got to savor seeing them celebrate a playoff win.
“It’s huge because when I first started here, there were two girls on the team that had played,” Isaacson said. “I had to coach every single one of them from the ground up. The fact that we’ve made it this far is massive to me. Seeing the program that we’ve built and feeling like a lot of that was my own hard work, it makes me really really proud and really proud of how hard these girls have worked.”
The Aviators now have to prepare for their second round matchup at No. 4-seeded Brighton on Thursday — but first it was time for the team to get its promised ice cream.
“It was such a motivator,” Wright said, grinning. “I was like, let’s do it. We can do it and we fought so much hard at the end there — but I don’t think it was because of the ice cream.”
