There are fast starts, and then there’s how Park City’s girls lacrosse team started its game against Waterford on Monday night at Dozier Field.
The Miners scored nine goals in just over nine minutes en route to a dominant 25-3 win over the Ravens. Park City’s 25 goals are a season high, and the Miners improved to 9-0 on the season.
“We have been telling the girls a lot (that) we want to get them to start pushing the ball off the draw and pushing the ball quickly,” Park City coach Mikki Clayton said. “It just sets the tempo for the game, and again, that’s something we’ve been working on to get better at. And they did it really well today, they executed well.”
It took a couple of minutes for Park City’s offense to get going, but the Miners went on to score three goals in less than 30 seconds for a quick 3-0 lead. The goals came fast and furious after that, and freshman Gretchen Lane had a hat trick with over 16 minutes left in the first half. By the time the horn sounded for halftime, Park City led 16-2. The Miners went on to outscore Waterford 9-1 in the second half.
Junior Lilly Hunt led the way for Park City offensively with five goals and added a pair of assists. Hunt leads the team in goals this year and is averaging over four per game this season.
“Assisting and really looking up when we’re transitioning has been helping a lot,” Hunt said. “Because the ball moves faster than the girl, so we’re a lot more productive.”
Park City excelled at moving the ball and spreading the scoring around instead of a select few carrying the load. Ten different Park City players scored a goal, and eight had at least two. The Miners also recorded 16 assists, including a team-high four from senior Sam Riely. Riely had a hat trick as well.
“The movement on the ball is really good,” senior Colomba Gonzalez said. “The plays are really good as well. We communicate as a team. We don’t play rushed, in a way. We communicate, we pass and we play as a team.”
After Monday’s win, Park City is slated to play a condensed stretch of five region games that begins with a home game against Olympus on Wednesday and ends with a matchup against East on the road on May 13.
“Six games in two weeks is a lot,” Clayton said. “It’s definitely going to be intense, especially as most of those are region games. But we’re looking forward to it. It’s going to be really good competition between particularly Olympus and Brighton. And we’re excited for it.”
Park City will celebrate senior night on Wednesday when the Miners face Olympus at 7 p.m. The Titans are 7-1 on the season.
“I’m excited for senior night, but I hope the game goes well,” Gonzalez said. “Olympus has been playing really well. I just hope we can play (at) the same level like we have been playing this whole time and not level down or anything.”