The Forest Grove High School lacrosse team poses for a photo with their Cascade Cup Bracket trophy following their win over Beaverton. Members of the team (no order) include: Cash Mendola, Jackson Hepler, Brady Johnson, Cole Graham, Chase Vinson, Cayden Cornett, Julian Ramirez, Dylan Richters, Matteo Cenis, Bryce Carter, Aiden Darby, Carter Stock, Jared Coontz, Grayson Gooden, Landon Downey, Kain Tierney, Caplin Lipscomb and Brayden Mueller-Delaney. (Courtesy Photo/Scott Tierney)

It’s been a grind for the Forest Grove High School boys lacrosse program over the past handful of years, but that grind paid off this season when the Vikings won the Oregon High School Lacrosse Association’s Cascade Cup earlier this month, defeating Beaverton 16-11.

The win was monumental for a number of reasons, but especially gratifying for a Forest Grove team who earned what they got the old fashioned way – through hard work.

“This season was a blast,” Forest Grove head coach Scott Tierney said. “Honestly, I have a blast with every season, but this one had the feeling of the team that lost its season due to COVID, so it had a bit more of a special feel to it. It was immensely rewarding to see the success that this team achieved this year. Knowing the hard work they put in during the offseason both in this sport and others made it all the more enjoyable.”

This year’s Vikings finished the regular season with a 19-3 overall record and placed second to Liberty in the Pacific Conference standings, narrowly missing the state’s Championship Bracket, but qualifying for the Cascade Cup which places the 16 teams nearest the Championship Bracket qualifications and placing them in a 16-team bracket of their own.

The Vikings made the most of that opportunity, defeating West Albany, Roseburg and Ida B. Wells on their way to their title game win over Beaverton. That final win came on the heels of a regular season defeat to the Metro League foe, and offered a means of retribution for a Forest Grove team looking for just that.

“A lot of the games this year were against teams that we lost to the year prior, and with Beaverton, two times,” Tierney said. “The motivation of revenge, to get that win back that we so badly wanted, just made it that much more satisfying.”

Also satisfying, was from where this year’s Vikes came.

Last year’s team finished just 7-11 overall, and in 2023 and 2022 the team failed to win a game, going 0-29 over that stretch. Tierney said there was no magic elixir responsible for the turnaround, but just a commitment from the team to turning itself and the entire program in a different direction.

“I think the biggest difference this season was the commitment everyone had to achieving the success they did,” the coach said. “This (Cascade Cup championship) was a goal that the team set back in November, with the idea of working not for themselves, but for the betterment of the team/program, which was unlike any other season.”

Leaders of this year’s team included senior Jackson Hepler who Tierney described as “upbeat;” their “quiet rock” on the backline, Brayden Delaney; and vocal and demanding leaders, sophomores Jared Coontz, Carter Stock, Kain Tierney and Caplin Lipscomb.

“It was a very different blend of leadership that allowed each of the players to grow and experience the game in a different way,” Tierney said.

It wasn’t all gravy for Forest Grove, however, for they suffered a relatively heartbreaking 12-11 defeat to eventual league champion Liberty near the end of the season which ended up costing them a league title and trip to the state’s Championship Bracket. Tierney said that while the loss was a painful one, it set the table for what was to come and how it would happen.

“The Liberty loss definitely stung,” the coach said. “It was a game that we felt we let slip away. We came out flat in the first half which got us into a hole that was just a little too deep to claw our way out of. But that loss really helped cement the belief that we can and do play at an elevated level, and that when we do play our game, these kinds of games are right there for us to take.”

Which was a big factor in their postseason success.

While the Cascade Cup isn’t the “big boy” bracket of Oregon high school lacrosse, it is a start to what the team hopes will be a long journey to even greater success.

“Winning the Cascade Cup was a huge stepping stone in what the coaches and I feel is the evolution of our program,” Tierney said. “It was our goal this year to do it, and I think winning that game helped bring much more recognition to our program both at the high school and in the community.”

And what’s the next step?

“The next steps for the boys lacrosse team is to continue to grow to both a JV and Varsity team, along with continuing to achieve high levels of success,” Tierney said. “We will look to move up into the State Championship Bracket, and hopefully we continue to grow and succeed at the next higher level.”