The landscape of lacrosse in Utah continues to get more competitive as the sport has rapidly increased its foothold in the UHSAA spring sports season.
The Deseret News 2023 Players of the Year for boys lacrosse represent the first class of players of whom many will have played lacrosse their whole high school careers. These three players were the most dominant and the best leaders this spring.
6A Player of the Year
Blake Franckowiak, Corner Canyon
Since Blake Franckowiak entered the high school ranks, he’s known nothing but winning.
The senior leader of Corner Canyon boys lacrosse was a three-year starter for the Chargers and was always one of its top scorers. It was in no small part due to his contributions that the Chargers have gone 57-3 in the last three years with three state championships.
Franckowiak committed to the University of Utah last November, and in his senior season, he went from being a factor to the factor for the Chargers. He led 6A in total points, scoring 70 goals while recording 61 assists.
“Blake is a selfless, energetic, relentless lacrosse player,” Corner Canyon coach Aaron Ika said. “He rides at attack with grit and hustle that allowed us to cover up a lot of mistakes this year.”
Franckowiak’s ability to create chaos for opposing teams and shoulder the load on offense was one of the biggest reasons why Corner Canyon continued to be so dominant, Ika said. He paired his dominant offensive stats with 56 ground balls and 36 caused turnovers on defense.
“Blake led the offense at Corner Canyon not only on the stat sheet but in the locker room,” Ika said. “He will do great things at the D1 level when he gets to the University of Utah.”
5A Player of the Year
Berkley Horoba, Alta, Sr.
Simply put, Berkley Horoba was the motor behind one of the deadliest offenses in Utah this season.
Horoba anchored an offense that put up a state-leading 348 goals in just 18 contests, roughly 19.3 goals per game. Impressively, almost half of those goals went through Horoba as he finished his senior season with 70 goals and an astonishing 83 assists.
“What makes Berkley such a vital and important player to our team is not only his physical ability on the field but his toughness, commitment, and leadership,” Alta coach Brandon Horoba said. “Along with being one of the best athletes in the state, Berkley sets himself apart by always going 100% in practice, being first in sprints, and leading his teammates vocally and by example. Coming early and staying late to get extra shots and wall ball in.”
In addition to his offensive stardom, Horoba forced 65 ground balls and caused 30 turnovers. He signed on to play college lacrosse at Towson University in Maryland.
“Berkley is a team-first guy and someone you find getting more excited for his teammate’s successes than his own,” Coach Horoba said. “That mentality will propel him into being a great player at the Division 1 level.”
4A Player of the Year
Sean Tempest, Sky View
No other team in the state notched 20 wins except for the Sky View Bulldogs, and a big reason for that was the continued leadership and offensive prowess of senior Sean Tempest.
As the Bobcats’ go-to attacker, Tempest was the focal point of the team’s offense, an offense that scored nearly a hundred more goals than any other 4A squad, averaging 11.5 per game.
In his junior season, Tempest served a larger facilitating role, but that role statistically diminished in his senior season, going from 33 to 18 assists. Instead, he turned around and led 4A in scoring with 64 goals. He also forced 41 ground balls on defense.
“Sean is the type of player every coach dreams of,” Sky View coach Bryant Cannell said. “He is driven, talented, and a student of the game. He always wants to set teammates up for success, but often found himself as a talented finisher … Losing him at the close of this year will leave a huge hole in our program to fill.”
Tempest will serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints before weighing college options, Cannell said.