Park City Miners Girls Lacrosse Rolls Past Alta 16-2 in Home Opener

The Miners girls' lacrosse team wasted little time announcing themselves at Quinn's Junction on Wednesday, March 11, controlling possession from the opening draw and building a 4-0 lead over Alta by the end of the first quarter.

Park City extended that advantage to 8-2 at halftime, then buried the Hawks with a dominant third quarter that pushed the margin to 14-2 and triggered a running clock mercy rule. The Miners added two more goals in the fourth to complete a 16-2 home-opening victory.

Sophomores Hadley Flach and Natalia Szwajkun shared team-high honors with five points each. Flach contributed two goals and three assists while Szwajkun was the most prolific finisher on the day with four goals and one assist. Junior Sophia Mondschein and senior midfielder Coco Crawford each added four points.

Junior attacker Sidney Hatcher was also a consistent offensive presence, advancing the ball effectively throughout the first half and scoring multiple goals, according to National Today's coverage of the game.

First-year head coach Adam Ghitelman credited Alta's goalkeeper for keeping the early margin from becoming even more lopsided. "I think they played a strong first half," Ghitelman said of Alta. "Their goalie must have made 10-plus saves. We just kept banging down the door and the floodgates finally opened for us."

The win came just two days after Park City opened the season with a 27-0 road victory over Mountain Crest on Tuesday, March 10. Despite back-to-back blowouts to start the year, Ghitelman said the program still has work ahead. He believes the Miners can sharpen their defensive fundamentals, noting the team sometimes leans on raw athleticism rather than disciplined technique.

The Miners enter the home stretch of their early schedule as defending state champions. Park City won state titles in 2021 and 2023, and Ghitelman has made no secret of the program's target for 2026: another championship banner.

Park City has the remainder of this week off before returning to Quinn's Junction on Monday at 7 p.m. to face Green Canyon, which enters that matchup at 3-0 on the season.