“The hardest thing to do in sports is to win back-to-back titles,” quipped Charles Barkley infamously. Brighton boys lacrosse accomplished that feat with a burst of comeback goals in the fourth quarter of the state championship matchup with arch rival Park City. 

Coach Chris O’Donnell has built the boys program over the last eight years. In the last five years since the sport became UHSAA sanctioned, O’Donnell’s teams have met Park City in the state playoffs all five times. The first three belonged to Park City. The last two eclipsed them all as Brighton prevailed for state titles in dramatic fashion. 

The state championship game

At Zions Bank Stadium one week before graduation, the lacrosse state championship game started poorly for the top-seeded Bengals. The Miners scored three goals in the first three minutes for a 3-0 lead, and scored two more in the second quarter. All five first-half Park City goals were scored by different players. PC seemed determined to avenge last year’s finals loss to the Bengals. They had already given Brighton its only home field loss during the regular season and spoiled Brighton's quest for a Region 6 trophy. 

Brighton mounted only a small offense with two first half goals from Zachary Anderson and a goal from Gabriel Carrera which kept the Bengals within striking distance 5-3 at halftime. “They were dominating us in the middle of the field,” O’Donnell said. “We were losing on face-offs and ground balls.”

The third quarter deepened the trough. With a single quarter left to play in the season, and the last quarter the seniors would play in their high school careers, the score was 7-4 in favor of the surging Miners. The Brighton crowd began the chant, “Yes we do! We believe in you!” as the clock began winding down. Holly Fairbanks, a fan, said, “The boys heard us. Several turned around and it felt like we were helping with a little extra nudge to get the job done. I still get so emotional thinking about it.”

A fourth quarter six-point Bengal rally began like a small-town fire alarm. All American senior Austin Taylor sparked the flame with two goals and two critical assists to Colt McKean and Andrew Salinas. Gabe Carrera turned on his assist skills allowing junior Cole Murray to score a go-ahead goal. With a scant minute to play “comeback” Carrera dished another assist giving senior McKean the honor of netting the state championship winning goal. 

Zions Bank Stadium erupted in orange as the players’ gear was tossed in the air. Brighton mounted an improbable fourth quarter “Bengal burst” that stunned Park City 10-9 for a second consecutive state lacrosse championship. 

“This is a game we should be playing in every year,” O’Donnell said. “That’s the mentality that we have. We didn’t get there for the first years of sanctioning. (We) kept losing in the semis or quarters to (Park City), and then finally got them last year and then this year. We know this is the standard for us and it’s just a matter of maintaining that every year.”

“They’re well coached; they play hard. They kept battling back,” said Park City coach Michael Persky on Brighton’s fourth quarter comeback win.

The standout players

Taylor emerged with a litany of honors: All-American, Academic All-American (with perfect grades), All-State First-Team, “Best 11” in the state and Mr. Lacrosse 2025 for all of Utah. He will be taking his talents to the next level at Westminster this fall. 

“This playoff run meant so much to our team,” Taylor said. “We felt like we were doubted many times and often relied on ourselves making a comeback in the second half. Being able to battle through the adversity and score 6 in the fourth quarter to win the championship was a perfect way to end our season. I’ve never seen a team band together more than this one did.”

O’Donnell on Mr. Lacrosse 2025: “Austin Taylor is an incredible player and person. For him to be named Mr. Lacrosse is a huge honor and he deserves it. He’s a quiet leader but his play and work ethic were loud. Austin was typically the player that started digging us out of the hole first and everyone else followed his lead. Having back-to-back Mr. Lacrosse come from Brighton is pretty special and something we don’t take for granted as coaches.”

Brighton’s legendary goalie Mason Fray who now plays lacrosse for Westminster won the statewide Mr. Lacrosse honor in 2024. With 67 Utah high school varsity lacrosse teams playing and 1,500-plus players competing, having back-to-back Mr. Lacrosse awardees speaks volumes about Brighton’s program. The state championship also propelled Brighton to be the Deseret News All Sports Award’s most prolific boys athletic program in 5A. 

The two championship seasons can’t be told without considering the powerful play of  “the three amigos:” attackers Austin Taylor, Gabe Carrera and Andrew Salinas. They all eclipsed 100 points becoming only the second group of three teammates to do that in one season. (Corner Canyon accomplished the feat in 2021.) With each attacker earning around 40 assists in addition to those 100-plus goals shows how unselfish they were as cohesive teammates. They fed off each other and elevated the play of everyone around them. 

Salinas (senior) led the team in scored goals with 106 career points. He was second team All Region two years in a row. This year he had 62 goals and 44 assists and was named Academic All-State, Academic All-American and was awarded a Presidential scholarship.

Gabe Carrera (junior) was also named All-American and included in the “Best 11” in the state - high honors and high expectations for a player coming back next year. 

Also returning next year is Landon Stosich (junior), the celebrated goalie who had 179 saves for the season. “I am very grateful to play with such a good group of boys that love the game and each other so much,” he said. “We are losing some great seniors, truly going to miss every single one of them but looking forward to next year to try and replicate such an amazing season!”

Senior Jaxon Webster ends his high school career with over 500 face-off wins. He played varsity since he was a freshman and will continue playing FOGO (face off get off) at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania.

Outgoing senior Toby Fairbanks summed it up: “We worked really hard at being a team this year, everyone had a voice. We became more than just teammates, we were brothers. Winning with them this year after we had to fight so hard in every playoff game just felt so right. My boys worked hard for this championship!” λ