The Park City High School boys' lacrosse team showed why it is one of the best lacrosse teams in the state on Friday night at Quinn's Junction.

Squaring off against Lone Peak, the Miners dismantled the Knights' zone defense, scoring early and often en route to an easy 17-3 victory.

Cole Flinders led Park City with an outstanding effort on the attack, scoring seven goals and dishing out two assists for good measure. Kolton Atkinson added three goals and three assists and Trent Clifford scored twice and had one assist.

Beau Pederson, Chase Flinders, Jack Mintz, Tucker Mirams and Chase Christensen also scored for Park City. Justin Pickard led the team in assists, dishing out four on the night.

Park City Coach Andy Langendorf said he was happy with the way the Miners played against Lone Peak's defense on Friday night.

"It's the first time we've really seen a zone this season, so it was a good opportunity for us," he said. "We've been practicing for it because we expect to see it in the future. We had to work some wrinkles out in the beginning and have some patience. It was a good run for us."

Against a zone defense, pressure on the ball isn't emphasized. Rather, the defense tries to stop any penetration by the attacking team. Langendorf said one of the wrinkles the Miners had to work out early was how to stay poised when they had so much time with the ball.

"We started out a little wild in the beginning because I don't think our players were used to having so much time and space, but we sorted that out quickly," he said.

After making the quick adjustment, Langendorf was pleased with how the Miners put their stamp on the game early, never letting Lone Peak gain any momentum.

"I never underestimate any team in this league," he said. "We came in ready to play, we got ahead and we made sure we stayed ahead.

Park City s Eli Levine fires a shot at the Lone Peak goal on Friday evening at the Quinn s Junction fields. (Christopher Reeves/Park Record)

Defensively, the Miners had starter Ian Sime in goal in the first half, where he stopped both of the shots he faced. In the second half, Park City turned to freshman Connor French, who stopped six of the nine shots he faced.

"Losing [starting goalie] Sheridan [Buchholz] for the season was huge for us, but Ian has stepped up and played fantastic," Langendorf said. "He's hurt right now and he's still continuing to excel. Then Connor came in and did well for us. We'll see more of Connor French down the road and hopefully Ian will get better."

Cole Flinders' impressive performance was the result of him being in the right place at the right time, thanks to a minor tweak to the Park City attack. Several of his goals came on shots that were taken mere inches from the Lone Peak goal.

"We made a small adjustment after watching a couple sets," Langendorf said. "We knew it would turn into money for him and it absolutely did. He just started running layups on them. We were passing the ball well, but I think the key for us is we spend a lot of time on film and we knew that [play] was there. We didn't expect any different."

Even after scoring 17 goals on Friday, Langendorf said the Miners aren't satisfied. He doesn't want the attack getting stagnant as the season goes on.

"We have some work to do on the attack side and I don't think we're ever really going to be completely satisfied," he said. "As we get deeper into the season and we play some great teams, we're going to have to capitalize on everything we get."

Speaking of great teams, the Miners have their toughest test to date coming up on Wednesday night when they host Corner Canyon. The Miners are the No. 2 team in the state, behind only Corner Canyon.

Langendorf said the team is definitely excited for that game, but wouldn't look past a game at Bingham on Monday night (the Miners won, 11-4).

"Everybody is waiting for that game," he said. "But it's one thing at a time for us."

Wednesday night's game against Corner Canyon is scheduled to start at 6:15 p.m. at Dozier Field.