The University of Utah lacrosse team faced off against Bellarmine today and got their first win of the season, 12-7. Utah improved to 1-1 as freshman Jordan Hyde put on quite a show and led the team in scoring with four goals. Ramsey McCreary and Tyler Bradbury also were major contributors in the win. McCreary had one goal and three assists, and Bradbury had three goals and one assist.

Hyde impressed everybody today and proved that he can be a driving force in this team. Not only did he score four goals, but he only took four shots. He also didn’t have a turnover in either game this year — Hyde has amazingly put up six goals this year without recording a single turnover.

McCreary, who is only a sophomore, lead the team in assists today with three, and he is now tied with Bradbury for total assists this season. Hyde and Bradbury now lead the team with six goals each. It has been quite the start to the season for freshman Bradbury. He recorded five points in the last game at Denver, and he recorded four today at Bellarmine.

Utah Athletics has also announced that they officially accepted an invitation for Lacrosse to join the ASUN conference. This is a big step for the program which is only in its third season of D1 Lacrosse. “We are so grateful to now have a conference home and be able to provide our team an opportunity to compete for championships,” said head coach Brian Holman.

“Brian and his staff have all worked so hard from the day they stepped foot on campus to get the program where it is today, and to finally have a home is very exciting,” said Deputy Athletics Director Scott Kull. Utah will join fellow independents Cleveland State University and Robert Morris University as ASUN affiliate members. Hampton University will move into SoCon as they realign to allow two NCAA Tournament automatic qualifying conferences.

As a part of this restructure, Air Force and Bellarmine, currently both members of SoCon, will move over to the ASUN. Detroit Mercy will move over from the MAAC to round out the six-member league.

The team will get a week off before flying out to Colorado Springs as they face Air Force on Feb. 20 at 12:00 p.m. MST. The team will not get a home game until Mar. 6 when Jacksonville comes to town. Hopes are high for the rest of the season as the team has already played their only ranked opponent.

Despite losing to No. 5 Denver in January, the team proved that they are a serious contender by keeping the game close. Then, the Utes came out this week and defeated Bellarmine 12-7 to once again prove that they have what it takes. Next year, this team will be competing in the ASUN conference for a conference championship and a NCAA Tournament berth.

Utah has come out strong during the first two games of its third season of D1 competition, and the world has taken notice. I wouldn’t be surprised if the team keeps this hot streak alive.

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@SeanOverton3