On a sunny and temperate Thursday afternoon, the Miners girls lacrosse team drove down to Herriman’s Zions Bank Stadium in search of their second-straight state championship.
Standing in Park City’s way was then-18-2 Fremont High School team, which hadn’t dropped a game since March 6.
So, it was the No. 1-seeded Miners and the two-seeded Fremont competing for all the marbles.
As Park City had done all season, dominating opponents by scores like 27-0, 18-2 and 23-1, they jumped all over their opponents. A relatively sparse but passionate Miners crowd that had made the about-an-hour trek south applauded their girls, who took a 9-3 first quarter lead.
Park City star Natalia Szwajkun, who wound up with eight goals Thursday to hit 100 on the season, said the early lead helped quell any early game nerves among the team.
“It definitely helped,” Szwajkun said. “We’re pretty good at changing the nerves from really nervousness to more like excitement, and that really helps us to get out here and play our game.”
Star senior Coco Crawford, who, alongside first-year head coach Adam Ghitelman, was a vocal leader in timeouts and stoppages of play, joined Szwajkun in the fun with four more goals. Star junior Sophia Mondschein had a hat trick of both goals and assists.
Fremont battled the Miners tough in the second quarter, drawing them 3-3 in that period. While Fremont’s defense remained stiff in the second half, limiting Park City to three and four goals in the third and fourth quarters, respectively, the Miners put the clamps on their opponents, who only scored three second half goals.
After a slew of penalties concluded and the final buzzer, or really airhorn, sounded, the final score read 19-9 Park City.
The Miners threw their sticks in the air and charged toward their goalie, McKinsey Darling, to celebrate.
Typically, a somber moment for the valiantly vanquished, Fremont walked toward their goalie but then also celebrated momentarily with a cheer. Supporters in the stands lauded both teams.
“Everybody contributed,” Ghitelman said. “These girls found their best lacrosse at the end of the year, and that’s always the goal.”
A decorated former professional lacrosse player and 2011 NCAA champion with the University of Virginia, Ghitelman is happy that his girls created lifelong bonds this season and a new core memory with each other Thursday. The Park City senior class leaves the program having also won state titles in their freshman and junior seasons.
“They’re everything I could have asked for in a team,” Ghitelman said. “They are committed, competitive and talented. And they have so much passion for what they do.”
Ghitelman feels the hardest-working, best team in 5A won on Thursday.
The new coach is grateful that he didn’t have to entirely overhaul the group’s habits this season; they were already championship level. He and the team will look to savor the moment, including the Chick-fil-A gift cards that they earned with their win, before turning their attention to repeating the process that landed them this title. Ghitelman, Szwajkun and the other returning players believe they can and should rattle off some further consecutive state titles.
“Definitely four-peat,” Szwajkun said.
