The Utah men’s lacrosse team (6-4, 5-0 ASUN) traveled to Township, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, April 8, to take on the Robert Morris Colonials. The Utes cruised to a 26-16 victory while staying undefeated in conference play. Utah has been hot as of late and continued their stellar play today.

Koa Todd and Jordan Hyde led the Utes with five goals each, while MJ McMahon chipped in with three of his own. Utah shared the ball extremely well today with 12 total assists, led by Tyler Bradbury‘s three. Samuel Cambere, Todd and McMahon each grabbed two assists as well. Colin Lenskold led Utah with seven saves in just the first half before Connor Hollison took over in the second half and grabbed four saves of his own. The Utes move to 5-0 in conference play and sit alone atop the ASUN conference standings.

First Half

The first quarter was a back-and-forth affair with Robert Morris scoring first around the 12-minute mark. Hyde answered quickly though, on a nice feed from Cambere just 15 seconds later. The Colonials took a 2-1 lead on another early goal, but again, the Utes answered on a Todd goal assisted by Zach Chandler.

The Utes were able to take their first lead of the game at the nine-minute mark on a nice feed from Bradbury to a cutting Ryan Stines. Robert Morris, however, took back the lead on two quick goals with five minutes to go in the quarter. Utah needed some momentum heading into the second quarter, and they were able to do just that. Stines scored another goal on an assist from Bradbury while Chandler netted a late, unassisted goal to take back the lead for the Utes. The score sat at 5-4 at the end of one quarter, with Utah on top.

Carson Moyer got the scoring started quickly in the second quarter with a nice unassisted goal, putting Utah up 6-4. Again, the Colonials wouldn’t go away and found a way to tie it up at six goals apiece with two back-to-back goals. The Utes answered beautifully, however, with three straight goals on a score from Bradbury and two scores from Hyde.

The Utes led 9-6 before Robert Morris stopped the run with a goal of their own around the seven-minute mark. Todd, Hyde and Cody Hart were all able to score goals within a minute and a half of each other to give Utah a comfortable 12-7 lead with just under five minutes to go in the half. Unfortunately, the Utes went ice cold to end the quarter and allowed Robert Morris to score four unanswered goals, putting the Colonials right back in the game heading into halftime. Utah held just a 12-11 lead with plenty of game left to be played.

Second Half

Robert Morris started the second half by tying the score at 12 apiece for the first time since the score was 6-6. Utah hadn’t scored in over nine minutes of gameplay before McMahon and Todd broke the scoring drought with unassisted goals of their own. Utah retook the lead at 14-12 before the Colonials scored with eight minutes left to go in the third quarter. The Utes, however, scored two more goals by McMahon and Chandler to widen the gap.

Robert Morris was able to cut the lead to just two goals, but Utah’s offense was too much to handle. Moyer and Todd both scored unassisted goals to extend the Utes’ lead to four. Utah led 18-14 heading into the fourth quarter with a lot of work to do before the game was over.

The fourth quarter was dominated by the Utes, who scored six unanswered goals to take a 24-14 lead. The scoring run was led by goals from Josh Rose, Todd, McMahon, Hyde and two from Jared Andreala. Robert Morris cut the lead to nine at the seven-minute mark, but it was too little, too late for the Colonials. Peter Hagan netted his first goal of the year, and Hyde added another one for good measure as the game came to a close. Robert Morris scored with nine seconds left, giving Utah a 26-16 victory.

What’s Next for the Utes?

Utah will take on Lindenwood in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, April 12, at 2 p.m. MT. The Utes are playing their best ball of the season at the right time and will look to continue their stellar play this upcoming week.

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@Kylegarr23