The No. 25 Utah men’s lacrosse team proved that it’s the best college team in the Salt Lake area by beating the Westminster Griffins 9-7 on Thursday.
The game started off slow as both teams struggled to find their offensive forms. The first goal of the game came after 10 minutes had passed in the first quarter, when Danny Polityka scored from his knees after being pushed by a Westminster defenseman. Less than 30 seconds later, Utah scored again on a shot by junior attackman Ryan Watts to bring the score to 2-0.
Westminster scored first in the second quarter, but Utah answered with two goals to extend its lead to 4-1. Overall, Westminster had trouble keeping possession of the ball and Utah was able to hold the ball and control the clock.
With two minutes remaining in the half, the Utah defense heaved the ball downfield to senior attackman, Adam Grow, who beat his defender and scored to make it 6-3 at halftime.
Westminster gave Utah a scare by scoring two goals to start the second half, but Utah answered back with two goals of its own including, a goal by Grow after he eluded three defenders.
Again, Westminster ripped off two quick goals to start the fourth quarter. Polityka notched his third goal of the night with 11 minutes remaining in the game, which proved to be the last goal of night.
“It was a good win for us — we knew it was going to be a hard fought game,” said Utah head coach Rich Levi. “The guys took it upon themselves to show everyone who this team really is and get focused.”
Utah dominated face-offs, winning 18 and losing just five, which helped set the tone of the game.
“A big part of our win tonight was face-offs. Junior Pat McIntyre stepped up big for us tonight with face-offs,” said Levi.
Utah will head to California on March 20 to play three games in four days. Utah will face Claremont College, No. 13 Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and No. 3 Chapman College.