BRIGHTON — Joey Skoczylas never had a chance to play lacrosse with John Aurandt, but can appreciate what it means to be mentioned alongside the former Brighton great.
Skoczylas had the opportunity to watch Aurandt fill the net for the Bulldogs while attending his brother Jacob’s games in 2022.
“I have four older brothers,” Skoczylas said. “One was on the same team with him, so I was always at the games watching him score.”
Somewhere in the stands at Brighton games this season were young boys who were amazed by Skoczylas and his goal-scoring ability. Skoczylas put up one of the best offensive seasons ever at Brighton, scoring 89 goals and 22 assists.
Only Aurandt produced more goals in a season for the Bulldogs, scoring 102 in 2021 and 92 in 2022 before going on to play for Harvard. He had 257 goals in only three seasons, missing 2020 because of Michigan’s COVID policies.
“This coming year, I want to hopefully get even closer or even beat it,” said Skoczylas, a junior who was selected by the Livingston Daily as the Livingston County’s boys lacrosse Player of the Year.
“I’m glad my name’s next to him. He had a great career at Harvard and was an outstanding player.”
Aurandt and Carson Billig are the only Brighton players to make first-team all-state twice. Skoczylas has that opportunity after making the Division 1 first team this season, in addition to being named an All-American.
“He’s got a great shot and some of the best feet I’ve ever seen with an offensive player,” Brighton coach Jim Carl said. “There’s not going to be many who are going to top Aurandt or Billig. Joey’s going to be close. Those guys were 6 feet. I don’t know if Joey will get there.”
Skoczylas made an immediate impact as a freshman in 2024, despite being only 5 feet, 6 inches and 140 pounds. He’s grown to 5-11 and 160 pounds, which in part accounts for an injury-free season.
Skoczylas sustained a season-ending injury on a hit against Hartland late last season, then was injured again last summer.
“I think this was my best season yet,” he said. “I put on some pounds and height, which helped a lot so I wouldn’t get bullied by the defense.”
In addition to chasing Aurandt’s records, Skoczylas will pursue greater team success. Brighton has won regional championships each of his first three seasons, only to lose decisively in the state quarterfinals to private school powerhouses Detroit Catholic Central and Birmingham Brother Rice.
As a program, Brighton is 0-6 in the quarterfinals in the past nine seasons. The Bulldogs lost 15-4 to Catholic Central in the quarterfinals this season.
“All of our top players got together and talked about our schedule,” Skoczylas said. “We decided we want to schedule all the hard teams so we’re ready for anything. A lot of guys played summer ball for Stealth and some for Cherries. We’re ready. We’re mad we lost in the quarters for the (fourth) year in a row. We want to change that.”
Contact Bill Khan at wkhan@livingstondaily.com. Follow him on X @BillKhan
This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Brighton’s Joey Skoczylas top Livingston County boys lacrosse player
Reporting by Bill Khan, Livingston Daily / Livingston Daily
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By Bill Khan, Livingston Daily | USA TODAY Network
