The No. 19 Utah (7-7) lacrosse team will take on a familiar foe Thursday when it faces No. 4 BYU (9-4).
The Rocky Mountain Lacrosse Conference Division A regular season title will be on the line as both Utah and BYU are 2-0 in conference play.
Utah has had its fair share of roller coaster rides this season. The Utes could have easily beaten teams they lost to and could have lost games they won. Either way, Utah will have something to prove as it seeks to dethrone the Cougars.
On paper, Utah looks mediocre compared to BYU. The Cougars have beaten the Utes in the last seven games by a combined score of 128-44. The closest Utah has come to beating BYU was in 2003. Utah lost by eight goals, which is good, considering the last time these two teams met, Utah lost by 15.
Utah has scored more than 10 goals in a game once against the Cougars. It came during the 2007 regular season by a score of 11-21. On the defensive side, Utah hasn’t held BYU to fewer than 14 goals and has allowed 20-plus goals in three games, including both games against the Cougars last year.
BYU has lost four games but could just as easily have gone undefeated. No. 2 Chapman beat the Cougars in the second game of the year, 16-15. NCAA Division III Whittier beat BYU by one goal in overtime. No. 1 Michigan handed the Cougars their third loss by the score of 12-9, and No. 3 Minnesota-Duluth slipped past the Cougars with a two-goal win in Provo.
BYU is quick and won’t hesitate to run up the score if Utah fails to stop its potent attack. BYU is led by sophomore midfielder Elliot Grow and junior attackman Justin Hier. Grow has 16 goals and 46 assists in 13 games while Hier has 38 goals and 20 assists in 13 games.
Grow will be looking to outplay his brother, Adam Grow, who is a senior midfielder for Utah.
Utah will be led by junior attackman Matt Qualey and junior midfielder Ryan Watts. Qualey has 22 goals and 22 assists, and Watts has 22 goals and 10 assists.
Utah must play to its potential if it wants to have a shot. The Utes reached that potential earlier in the season when they beat nationally ranked Colorado and Colorado State in a stunning fashion. Both games were close, and Utah managed to beat Colorado for the first time ever. Then, during the same weekend, they beat CSU for only the second time in a game which featured five overtimes.
BYU assistant coach Pete Stevenson wrote an article for the RMLC website and said, “Utah has shown that they can play with anyone this year when they play well.”
Utah is coming off a 12-13 loss from Sunday’s game at the hands of Lindenwood. BYU beat Lindenwood 13-6 two days prior.
The showdown will take place at Juan Diego High School in Draper at 7 p.m.