Utah Lacrosse Faces Competition in Florida
University of Utah junior Seth Neeleman (5) during an NCAA Lacrosse game vs. the Furman University Paladins at Rice Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Feb. 22, 2020. (Photo by Jalen Pace | Daily Utah Chronicle)
February 29, 2020
The University of Utah lacrosse team sets out this weekend to take on the Dolphins of Jacksonville. This will be the first time the Utes will face Jacksonville in the program’s young history.
The Utes currently sit at 2-2-0 on the season. The Utes will come into Saturday’s match with momentum on their side, as last weekend the team had a surge in the second half that allowed them to dominate Furman with a final score of 17-9.
Head coach Brian Holman was delighted with his team’s second-half effort. “I’m proud of the guys and proud of the fans. It seems to be a combo,” he said to Utah Athletics. “We were down at halftime, and their goalie was making some really good saves. We just told them to stay with what we were doing, change their shooting a little bit and things would fall as long as we kept trusting the system.
“In the first half, we made some plays that weren’t really focused on Utah lacrosse and more on making the play. Once we dialed in and started playing Utah lacrosse and changed our shooting a little bit, then things started to happen,” he said.
During preparation for this week’s matchup, Coach Holman reflected on the current trajectory of the season and what his team must do to be successful. “We’re 2-2 — we’ve beaten two teams that we should have beaten and lost to two teams that have been ranked among the country’s top teams. Now it’s back to square one again. Can we take that next step? We want to beat those top teams, but we want to compete for a whole game in that environment.
“We’ve shown bits and spurts against Lehigh and Air Force, now can we play 60 minutes of Utah lacrosse at another gear? That’s what I’m really looking for is the sustained level of play, like what we had the second half of the Furman game,” Holman said to Utah Athletics.
With a chance to bring their record over .500, Utah will need to bring their A game to Florida. Utah fans can stream the match on the Utah Athletics website. The game is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 29. Face off is set for 1 p.m.
