The No. 19 Utah (7-8) lacrosse team faced off Thursday night against No. 4 BYU (10-4) in what proved to be a typical BYU-Utah lacrosse game. BYU dominated Utah with a final score of 11-3.
BYU came out of the gates running and never looked back.
“Our goal was to come out with intensity and score in the first five minutes of every quarter,” said BYU midfielder Elliot Grow. “The first five minutes of the game can make or break it.”
BYU did just that.
The Cougars dominated the first quarter, holding the ball in possession for nearly two-thirds of the quarter. BYU scored five goals while holding Utah scoreless. BYU attackman Mark Manning scored two goals while Grow notched one. Even the BYU defense got on the scoreboard as defenseman Britton Cone took the ball from end to end and beat Utah goalie, Andrew Martinelli.
Utah fared better during the second quarter fared better. The Utes only allowed BYU to score three goals while scoring one goal themselves. With 11 minutes remaining in the half, BYU midfielder Steve Neagle scored. BYU won the following faceoff. They scored again just nine seconds later, thanks this time to attackman Justin Hier. Hier scored again just 40 seconds later to make the score 8-0 in favor of BYU.
Utah managed to avoid a first-half shutout by scoring at the 6:55 mark on a rebound by Utah attackman, Mike Calvert. After a shot by Utah, BYU goalie Christian Kikumoto failed to trap the ball. Calvert was right next to the goal and scooped the ball off the ground and placed it right in the back of the net.
The third quarter was dominated by defense as only one goal was scored. Utah held the ball well in the third quarter, but Kikumoto stopped anything that came his way. With just under two minutes, BYU worked the ball around on offense until Neagle ripped a shot from 15 yards out right over Martinelli’s shoulder.
BYU started the fourth quarter well as defenseman Tyler Sabey went from end to end and buried the ball in the left side of the net. Neagle managed to score again with 10:43 left in the game to make the score 11-1 for BYU.
With five minutes remaining, BYU head coach Jason Lamb put in his second string and Utah managed to net two goals. Attackman Matt Qualey scored a goal on a bullet shot from 10 yards out and Calvert scored 26 seconds later.
Utah failed to play to their potential — dropped balls, poor penalties and bad passes plagued the Utes.
“For us, a lot of it is going back to the fundamentals,” said Utah head coach Rich Levi. “When we don’t throw and catch well, when we don’t pick up ground balls, when we don’t get in the right spot on clears, then we won’t play well.”
Utah finished the conference with a 2-1 record which will seat them as the No. 2 seed in the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse Conference playoffs May 2. Utah will face the winner of Colorado and Colorado State. The playoffs will be held in Salt Lake City and will be hosted by Westminster College. Visit www.utelacrosse.net for more information on times and dates.