Brighton boys lacrosse began the spring high school lacrosse season with a target on its back-to-back 5A state championships. The target for coach Chris O’Donnell is always the same: “Win the region and play for the state title” this time for a rare three-peat. The target for every other 5A school is to beat Brighton. 

The field for the region and state championship has intensified with both Park City and now Judge, which are 4A schools, playing up in the 5A category for lacrosse. Park City has lost to Brighton in the last two state championships and Judge was the 4A state champions. The new West Field Longhorns out of Taylor in Weber County also join the mix.  

A stellar Brighton lacrosse defense. (Photo Brighton lacrosse)

O’Donnell graduated a big class of seniors last year but retained the talents of All-American Gabe Carrera, who is committed to play next year at Stony Brook University in New York; Zac Anderson, who plays next year at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York; Landon Stosich, who committed to The College of Idaho; and Alex West playing next year at Utah State. 

The first big test of the season came in mid-March when the reigning 6A champions Corner Canyon came to Brighton stadium in a battle of the 2025 5A and 6A champions. 

Two years ago Brighton eked out a win and both teams went on to win their respective divisions. Last year, Brighton lost at Corner Canyon but both teams went on to take state in 5A and 6A. 

The game under the lights in March began as a defensive battle. The score was 4-4 in the second quarter before Corner Canyon took an edge at halftime 7-6. Brighton evened the score 11-11 as the crucial fourth quarter began. Defense tightened with a 12-12 tie with a minute left. 

Brighton’s senior goalie Stosich recalls “playing all four quarters, we were down 11-7 in third but we didn’t get down on each other instead we built each other up, so we could go on a 6 to 1 run to close the game out.” Brighton scored on the last minute to claim state supremacy for the week, a 13-12 win. 

Brighton lacrosse prepares for the Corner Canyon showdown. (Photo Brighton lacrosse)