High school boys lacrosse: Park City charges back late to win 5A title

Just 24 hours after Park City’s girls lacrosse fell to Olympus in the state championship, the boys team gifted a little bit of revenge.

Thanks to two last-minute goals, the Miners defeated the Titans 10-9 to secure their school at least one 5A state championship in lacrosse.

Olympus jumped out to an early lead as Ethan Hartsfield scored a physical goal while falling down from the right side, and later in the first quarter, Hudson Murphy was able to haul in the ball and scored on a tough off-balance flick.

The Miners finally got on the board early in the second quarter with a Chase Beyer goal from the left wing.

The two teams would battle throughout the rest of the game, with Park City trying to come back against a blistering Titan defense.

After falling behind 5-2, the first momentum swing of the game came from Jack McHenry, who was able to slice into the backline and cut into the deficit.

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Beyer’s second goal of the game came just before halftime, then two goals to start the second half gave the Miners their first lead of the game.

Olympus immediately responded with two goals within 20 seconds to regain the lead before the two powerhouses entered the fourth quarter all tied up.

After trading goals the first nine minutes of the quarter, Olympus regained control as Hudson completed his hat trick and gave his team a one-goal lead.

Over the next two minutes, the Miners played with urgency, looking for the equalizer, and Beyer capitalized on his fourth goal of the game, bouncing a tight score past the goalie to even the game at 9.

“All of us wanted it, we wanted to come together and work hard. I don’t know if it is anything in particular, this group of guys just works hard every day.” Beyer commented. He continued, “It is just the will and heart of this team, Jack McHenry does a great job getting us some big possessions. It comes back to being in the moment and working for each other.”

After that goal, McHenry won the faceoff and immediately pushed the ball up to sophomore Brendan Johnson, who rotated around for a few seconds before taking a shot toward the corner of the goal.

The crowd roared as the ball found the back of the net, and within 15 seconds a new champion was on the horizon at Zions Bank Stadium.

Johnson reflected on the moment, saying, “Keep grinding, keep working hard, we will find success.”

Olympus called timeout, and the Miners defense was just one stop away from bringing home the first championship in program history.

“It was an opportunity for us to reset as much as it was for them. At that point, we are just letting the players play. We have all the confidence in our team at this point in the season to do the things they need to do to win,” said Park City assistant coach Mike Chao.

The Titans weren’t able to get a shot off and the horn rang. Gloves, helmets, and sticks went flying as Park City celebrated the title.

Park City finished the season with nine different players in double-figure goals, utilizing a total team effort to finish at the top.

“This is a team with a lot of depth,” Chao said. “A lot of folks key in on the superstars, but we really have a team-first attitude.

“This is a team that knows how to play together, they had to learn how to be better together and that takes an entire season. That is the only way to have resiliency to beat a team like Olympus.”