Last spring, the Miners boy’s lacrosse season ended in heartbreak.
Park City took a 7-4 lead into the fourth quarter of the state championship game against Brighton, only to watch it unravel and lose 10-9.
While the loss was crushing, it fueled the Miners’ offseason. Park City began preparing for this spring’s season in September with informal practices.
The Miners are chasing their first state title since the 2023 season, which was the second of two-straight championships.
Park City begins their season Wednesday, hosting 6A foe Lone Peak at the fields at Quinn’s Junction at 5 p.m. Dozier Field, the typical home of the Miners, is under construction.
“We start off every year with the same set of high expectations,” said Park City head coach Michael Persky. “We want to win our region and state and be the very best team that we can be.”
Persky said that there are many motivating factors for wanting to succeed this season, other than just the disappointing end to last season.
The Miners will boast a roster with 17 seniors and hope their early, informal practices have helped bring underclassmen up to the speed of the high school game.
Park City scheduled a difficult non-regional schedule, as they always do, to test their team before the playoffs roll around in May. Lone Peak made the semifinals of last year’s 6A playoffs, falling to eventual state champion Corner Canyon, who’s also on the Miners’ schedule in early May.
“We have a good mix of some returning starters and a lot of kids that have been waiting in the wings, working really hard over the last three years for this to be their year,” Persky said.
Those who have been with Park City’s varsity team their entire high school careers are looking to bookend their tenure with state titles, and those newer to the program are chasing their first state titles. The Miners also fell to Brighton in the 2024 state championship game.
Only having five other teams in their region has enabled Park City to schedule plenty of tough non-region games. The Miners will trek out to Colorado to face two tough teams at the end of March and welcome a team from California to Quinn’s Junction in April.
While Persky feels confident in his team, he knows Brighton and others will come with their best shots come May. He knows the high-level his program has played at, though he said what matters most is peaking for the state championship game.
“The last two years, we just haven’t quite had enough to get it done,” Persky said. “We’re hoping that this year we do.”
Persky tabbed Reid McCurdy, Ben Gibbs, Harper Brent and Wyatt Williamson as players to watch this season. Gibbs, Brent and Williamson are part of the 17-man senior class, which Persky said has been doing a great job thus far in helping develop camaraderie with the newcomers. Tommy Davis, Wade Birch and Brent are Park City’s captains.
Persky hopes Miners fans can make it out to Quinn’s Junction to support their team. Park City is disappointed to not be in the friendly confines of Dozier Field.
“It’s created a bunch of logistical challenges, which we hope the boys and our fans can overcome,” Persky said. “We hope that they can find us over at Quinn’s and that they continue to continue to be part of who we are. … We really appreciate the crowd support.”