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And for the second straight season, Lightridge stood in its way.

The Patriots stayed competitive with the Bolts this time around, but a prolific performance from Avery Speier proved too much as they fell 12-5 in the Class 5 state quarterfinals Thursday evening at Gainer Field in 色多多.

鈥淚t鈥檚 tough, but they played extremely hard. I think we played extremely hard,鈥� Patriots coach Kate Spyhalski said. 鈥淟ast year they beat us by 10 and this year it was seven, and so I think that鈥檚 some improvement.鈥�

Last year, PH beat Douglas Freeman in the Region 5C championship before falling to Lightridge 16-6 in the quarterfinals. This year, it fell to the Mavericks in the 5C title game before rematching with the Bolts, who once again emerged victorious.

鈥淭he talent up there and even the pure size of their team makes a huge difference,鈥� Spyhalski said. 鈥淚 subbed on person the whole game, and they had subs in and off the field the whole time, and I think that that shows grit on our side of, we are a unit that鈥檚 working with much fewer numbers, and I think to be able to be in the same game and be competitive with a team of stature and coming from a place that feeds into lacrosse for so long, I think it鈥檚 pretty great to be competitive.鈥�

Speier finished with seven goals for Lightridge (16-4), while Reagan Van Horn and Keira Kavulic added two apiece. The Bolts will play Douglas Freeman (12-7) on Tuesday for a spot in the Class 5 state championship game.

鈥淪he鈥檚 so fast and she鈥檚 so small,鈥� Spyhalski said. 鈥淥ur biggest defenders, our people who we go to for putting on the biggest competitor, are taller, and it鈥檚 not somebody who matches up really well with this shorter, quick girl.鈥�

For Patrick Henry (11-6), Addison Gibson, Reese Wilkinson, Gracie Greer, Madeline Pugh and Brynne Wiegard all scored.

The Bolts opened the scoring just over three minutes in before Gibson tied the game on a penalty shot about three minutes later. Lightridge then rattled off four straight goals to build a 5-1 advantage early in the second period.

PH cut into its deficit with a pair of goals in a 29-second span following a timeout. Wilkinson whipped one past the opposing goalie from close range on a nice pass from Gibson, then Greer snapped one in on a dish from Wilkinson to make it 5-3 with 3:22 remaining in the first half.

But Lightridge answered with another 4-0 run and pulled away from there.

鈥淲e were moving the ball and pushing inside, and that was the game plan,鈥� Spyhalski said. 鈥淲e weren鈥檛 executing it, but that was the game plan. To push the ball out, they were running the zone, and be able to push the ball as quick as possible.鈥�