High school boys lacrosse: Redemption several years in the making, Park City beats Brighton to win 5A state championship

When Park City beat Brighton on its home field back on April 3, it was a very muted celebration for the Miners. In theory, knocking off the team that’s beat you in back-to-back state championship games should’ve brought about more excitement, but Park City’s response was pragmatic. The previous two seasons, Park City beat Brighton in the regular season only to lose in the championship. The players knew beating Brighton in late May was what really mattered. Mission accomplished. In the highlight anticipated 5A championship rematch at Zions Bank Stadium on Saturday afternoon, Park City’s defense dominated throughout, rolling to the 10-6 victory to deny Brighton a 3-peat. “It’s good to play them again, get our revenge, and honestly, it was a great season. I’m really excited for our team. Everyone deserves it,” said Park City’s Henry Alnwick, who notched two goals and two assists in the win. Park City and Brighton have won all five 5A state championships since boys lacrosse became a sanctioned sport. Park City won the 5A titles 2022 and 2023, with Brighton following with championships in 2024 and 2025. Park City won that May meeting 5-3, but Saturday’s rematch was never that close after Park City’s attack exploded for six straight goals in the second quarter. The backbone on Saturday just as it’s been all season was Park City’s defense. Park City went 18-3 this season, with its only losses coming to Cherry Creek and Valor Christian of Colorado and Corner Canyon. In its 18 wins, it never game up more than six goals. Holding Brighton’s attack down was just par for the course for the Miners. “As they say, offense wins games, but defense wins championships. And you saw that today. I mean, this Brighton team is a really good team. They have some really strong players, but our defense has been strong all year long. The discipline that they show, um and the energy and the communication and the teamwork, I think that’s what separates them, puts them head and shoulders above everybody else,” said Park City coach Michael Persky, who won his 100th game with the program on Saturday. He said senior defenders Harper Brent and Ben Gibbs along with sophomore Reid McCurdy are the backbones along the backline, while long-stick middles Wyatt Williams and Matix Black have been solid too whenever they’ve been on the field. Short stick middle captain Tommy Davis was part of a three-man rotation all year that overwhelmed the opposition. All season, Persky said the 17 seniors have been motivated to avenge the back-to-back championship losses. “They really wanted to redeem the last two seasons. They knew what challenged us in the past, and they knew that culture has to play a big role. And I’ll tell you, they’re the guys that did it. All of them. Those that were on the field and some of those that sat on the bench, just a phenomenal group of seniors,” said Persky. It took Park City a while to get its attack going on Saturday, but once it did, wow. Alnwick scored Park City’s first goal of the game with 59 seconds left in the first quarter, and then the Miners proceeded to score six unanswered goals in the second quarter — by six different goal scorers. Hunter Hutchison got things going giving Park City the 2-1 lead just over a minute into the second, and then after that Samuel Gould, Alnwick, Wade Birch, Carson Riely and Thomas Fannon all tacked on their own goals. Riely’s goal at the 6:22 mark of the second quarter and epitomized how dominant Park City was. Riely won the face off, sprinted straight up field and put a shot past Brighton’s goalie in the top left corner. “We’ve been looking for that all year long,” said Persky about how fun it was to watch the attack snowball in the second quarter. Leading 7-1 at the half, Park City’s defense managed the game well in the second half to ensure the victory. “10 goals, that’s our goal for every game.” Park City finished with eight different goal scorers, which is kind of fitting in the way it likes to play. “I think we pride ourselves on being selfless. Everyone on the team knows their role, and no one’s bigger than another person. I think it’s really fun playing a role where everyone passes and catches, and like we all get shots, and we all score,” said Alnwick. Brighton was led in the loss by Dylan Despain and Gabe Carrera, who scored two goals each.