It has been better late than never in the case of the Davis High School girls lacrosse team.

Last year’s inaugural sanctioned high school season wasn’t to be for girls lacrosse, with a rude interruption from the coronavirus. The delay put a damper on the 2020 campaign, but the Darts have come back with a vengeance in the new year one of the sports unveiling across the state. 

No team had been able to beat Davis through the team’s first eight games, and most foes haven’t been close.

In an undefeated start, Davis outscored the competition by an eye-opening 138-27 margin. That’s an average score per game of roughly 17-3. The team’s closest call was a 9-5 victory over Fremont on March 23. No other game was closer than 11 goals. The Darts posted lopsided victories of 17-3 over Weber (March 12), 16-5 over Roy (March 16), 18-3 over Northridge (March 18), 22-0 over Clearfield (March 25), 17-6 over Syracuse (April 8), 15-1 over Layton (April 13) and 21-4 over East (April 16). 

Most of these games have been decided early, as Davis has overpowered opponents with a potent offense and stymied the other teams with a suffocating, opportunistic defense. At our press time, Davis held a No. 3 RPI ranking in Division A, only behind Olympus and Park City. 

The Darts have scored almost at will, with six players hitting double figures in scoring through the first eight games. Senior Sam Wilkes is the top goal-scorer for the team. She averaged four goals an outing for a total of 32 in her first eight contests. Not far behind at this point was fellow senior Kelly Mayes, who racked up 28 goals on 38 attempts. Piper Searle, another senior, scored 22 goals during this stretch, while freshman Mackenzie Coleman and Macie Wood each had 12. Tallulah Raser, just a freshman, had 10 goals in the opening eight games. Maynes was leading the squad in assists with 16. Wilkes and sophomore Emma Williams had 11 and 10 assists, respectively. 

The defense has been just as big of a problem for the opposition. Davis has caused 104 turnovers, with Wilkes and junior Ava Bair leading the way with 18 caused turnovers. Junior Morgan Bunch has spent most of the time for the team in the goal. She has equipped herself well, saving 45 shots while giving up just 26. She has a save percentage of 63.3%.

Davis had four more games in April after our deadline, followed by four more scheduled in May. The Division A state tournament is set to begin May 18. Higher-seeded teams will get home matches in the first round and quarterfinals. The semifinals and finals will take place on neutral fields. 

The Darts have made significant strides as a program. In the school’s final season of non-sanctioned club play, it went 4-9 overall in 2019.