The Utah men’s lacrosse team entered today’s matchup against the Mercer Bears looking to stack consecutive wins for the first time this year. Having established an early 4-0 lead in the first quarter, the Utes cruised to a 16-10 victory, with 12 different Utah players scoring goals.
First Half
Utah came out firing in the first quarter, jumping out to an early 4-0 lead thanks to goals from Dallin Tanner, Luke McNamara, Sky Rold and Nikko DiPonio. With 4:18 left in the first quarter, Utah’s stellar defense and multiple Colin Lenskold saves allowed the Utes to take control of the game.
Ryan Stines, who assisted on two of the four Utah goals to open up the game, scored his first of the day at the 3:31 mark of the first quarter. Cade Faulkner, who has really stepped up in his sophomore season, gave the Utes their 6th goal of the day on a beautiful dodge down the right alley to find some separation. The Bears continued to hang around, however, finding the back of the net for the second time in the quarter with just 0:49 left. Utah continued to find an answer, as Jonas Hunter scored his first goal of the day as time expired in the first quarter to give the Utes a commanding 7-2 lead after 15 minutes of action.
Utah picked up right where they left off in the first quarter as Nathan Chalmers capitalized on a man-up opportunity for the Utes, extending their lead once again, 8-2. Both teams exchanged goals around the 11-minute mark of the second quarter to give Utah a 9-3 lead, but the Bears would not go away without a fight.
A quick two-goal burst by Mercer tightened things up 9-5, but once again the Utes had an answer as Faulkner put in his second goal of the day and Luc Charbonnier scored as well to give Utah an 11-5 lead with his first score of the afternoon.
The Bears kept things close down the stretch of the first half, putting together a 4-1 run to close out the second quarter to give Utah just a 3-goal advantage after 30 minutes of play despite controlling possession and, for the most part, dominating the first half.
Second Half
After a combined 21 first-half goals, both teams started to cool down in the third quarter as Will Overly scored the lone Utah goal and Mercer found the back of the net as time expired in the quarter. Despite the lack of offensive productivity to open up the second half for Utah, the goalkeeping of Lenskold and their all-around defensive effort neutralized Mercer’s ability to mount a comeback.
The Bears scored the lone second-half goal at the end of the third quarter and would not find the back of the net for the remainder of the game as Utah’s defense stifled the Mercer offensive attack. Goals by Overly, Hunter and McNamara were the icing on the cake in the fourth quarter as Utah cruised to a 16-10 win, holding the Bears scoreless throughout the final 15 minutes of play.
Utes Stuffing the Stat Sheet
12 different goal scorers paced the Utah offense as Overly, Faulkner, McNamara and Hunter were the only multi-goal scorers, each with 2 apiece. DiPonio is known as a defensive anchor, but his first goal of the year was another major boost offensively for Utah and was crucial in creating separation early on in this game. Lenskold continues his dominant play with his 5th consecutive game with at least a .500 save percentage, tallying 13 saves to just 10 goals allowed. Utah is starting to click on both ends of the field at the right time, as their most complete performance since early on in the year resulted in a 2nd consecutive win.
What’s Next for the Utes
Utah will be back at home next weekend Saturday at 11:00 p.m. MST as ASUN opponent Jacksonville comes to town.
