Coming off of a disappointing 11-18 loss at No. 4 Virginia, the University of Utah lacrosse team is looking to bounce back strong this week against Cleveland State. While Utah’s record this season sits at a dismal 3-6, Cleveland State has performed worse, going just 2-6 so far.

Chase Baker and Tristan Hanna lead Cleveland State in points with 14 each. All of Baker’s points came from goals, while Hanna’s were evenly split between goals and assists. Baker leads the Vikings in goals, with Hanna, Nick Polydoras and Brendan Sigurdson tied for second with seven goals. Hanna also sits in second in assists with seven, right behind Jason Sullivan, who has eight.

As for the Utes, Tyler Bradbury still leads Utah in points with 34, despite being unable to record a single point against Virginia. That was the first game of the season that Bradbury was unable to record a point. Jordan Hyde passed Bradbury in goals with his two against Virginia, pushing his season total up to 14. Hyde also sits in second in points with 18.

Looking at team stats, Utah has scored 90 goals in nine games, averaging 10 per game. Cleveland State has scored 63 goals in eight games, averaging 7.88 per game. Cleveland State is assisting on a higher percentage of their goals, 68.25% compared to the Utes’ 53.33%.

Bradbury will once again be a key component for the Utes against the Vikings. He has been critical to the success of the team, recording at least four points in each of Utah’s wins, including eight points in an 18-5 victory over Westminster. Bradbury will need to step up from the previous matchup and return to the game-changer that fans know him to be. If he continues to struggle, then the team may be in trouble.

The two teams have met once, an 8-17 loss for Utah on April 20, 2019. But Cleveland State went 8-7 that season and has since fallen drastically down to 2-6 this season. It’s no reason to be overly optimistic, but Cleveland State is no longer the same team that Utah faced in 2019.

On the other side, Utah hasn’t changed so much, going 5-10 in the 2019 season. But while Utah hasn’t exactly improved greatly since then, Cleveland’s decline gives the Utes a glint of hope that this matchup will be different than the previous.

After a so-far disappointing season, this matchup with Cleveland State looks to be different than most of the team’s other games this season. Utah is looking optimistic heading into this matchup, and can hopefully allow the team to finish the season strong.

It will be Utah’s final game on the road, rounding out their 30,000+ miles traveled. The game will take place on Saturday, April 24 at 10:00 a.m. MDT at Krenzler Field in Cleveland.

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