On Thursday night at Herriman’s Zions Bank Stadium, the Miners girls lacrosse team won their second-straight state title.
Grinning ear-to-ear on the Park City sideline, passing out state champs hats to the players, was first-year head coach Adam Ghitelman.
Ghitelman had done just about everything there is to do in lacrosse before taking the Miners job this February: winning a NCAA title with the University of Virginia as a player in 2011, winning back-to-back PLL Championship Series in 2024 and 2025 with the Boston Cannons and helping coach at the University of Utah, USC and Harvard. Mikki Clayton, who had led Park City to state titles in 2021, 2022 and 2024, stepped away from the job in January to have more time for her family.
Ghitelman chose to not change much of what worked for Clayton in his first season. He relied on the winning habits that Clayton had instilled in much of the group and let them enjoy themselves while working hard.
Not only did Ghitelman’s approach result in the title, but the Miners found few teams this season that played them to within 10 goals. Park City’s only two losses were to Cathedral Catholic and Mirra Costa of California, ranked 81st and 23rd in the nation by MaxPreps. The Miners finished ranked 49th in the nation.
“It’s been pretty spectacular,” Ghitelman said about year one with Park City. “An amazing group of young ladies. They’re as talented as you can imagine lacrosse-wise, but the personalities and leadership made every day so much fun.”
Ghitelman said he’s never had as many laughs during a season as a player or coach as this one. He cracked a few more as his players ran around Zions Bank Stadium on Thursday celebrating the title.
Ghitelman said there were times this season that he found himself quoting old coaches of his or peers at previous coaching stops. He’s looking to pass on some of his expertise to the next generation.
“I tried to infuse things that I know from men’s lacrosse and my experiences,” Ghitelman said. “It seemed to hit with these girls that are high-level competitors; they want that stuff. It was really a treat to be able to try and guide them on.”
Men’s and women’s lacrosse differ significantly in their styles: men’s allows body and stick checking and plays with 10 players on the field on each side, and women’s doesn’t allow checking and plays with 12 players on the field on both sides. Ghitelman coached the women’s game at times like they were playing mens, allowing heightened physicality in practices. He figured Park City would reap those rewards in turnovers and such, which they did in the title game, winning 18 ground balls.
Ghitelman, who moved out to Utah around 2017 to help coach the Utes and Park City shortly afterward, loves the town and has no plans on leaving. He said his Vizsla named Bodhi loves running around all the open spaces in Park City.
“It’s the best place to live,” Ghitelman said. “I love it so much. … I was so lucky when it (Miners job) opened up; I was like, ‘It would be so nice to coach right down the road and give back to the community.’”
Ghitelman is excited to coach Park City again next spring. In the offseason, he works with club teams. Ghitelman plans on keeping the Miners schedule tough to focus on improvement, and he’ll also be using his college connections to help his players with recruiting this summer.
“I want to support them, them to grow to be the best players they could be and to see it through,” Ghitelman said.