USU lacrosse team looking to bounce back against Ft. Lewis
For the first time Friday night, the Utah State lacrosse team will play under the lights at Romney Stadium.
“We’ve never played there before as a team,” captain Albert Garner said. “It’s really exciting. We’re hoping for a huge draw.
“We’re really hoping to get a lot people out there.”
In addition to getting more people out to its game against Ft. Lewis, the team is also hoping for more goals Friday.
After suffering a 19-0 defeat at the hands of No. 6 Colorado, Garner said the Ags are looking to find the back of the net this weekend.
“We need better offensive ball control,” Garner said. “The shots that were scored, you can’t really blame it on anybody. It’s a high-scoring game and it’s the offense’s job to answer.”
With last year’s leading scorer, Kyle Fiat, transferring to Towson to play Division-I lacrosse, the Ags are hard up for offense this year.
Only five players are returning from last season, and Garner said the youth and inexperience of this year’s team has limited the team’s offensive numbers.
“That’s the first time I’ve seen our team get shut out,” he said. “Offensive production is definitely down this year. The meshing of the offense hasn’t really occured yet. We’ve tried running different offenses and different sets and haven’t really got the results yet.”
The Aggies are currently playing with a 17-man roster, and Garner said he’d like to have a little more depth on the sideline.
“It’s trying,” he said. “We have to really work a lot on endurance during practice. The prime number for a team is 20 players. That way you’re not running down too thin to your less expierenced lines.”
But Garner said the undermanned and young Aggies are up to the challenge and, he said, the new players have performed well.
“It’s trial by fire and I think they’re doing excellent,” Garner said of the freshmen. “Brian Miller, John Gilmore and our freshman goalie Dan Gasser have all been outstanding.”
Friday, Garner said Utah State will face off with a team similar to itself in Ft. Lewis (1-4).
“It’ll be a really good game,” Garner said. “They’re one of our biggest rivals. Their season is kind of going the same way that ours is going right now. They’ve lost a whole bunch of guys and are playing a 17-man roster with first year goalie.”
The Ags will play another home game Saturday against San Diego State (1-6).
Two years ago the Aggies split a two-game series with the Aztecs in California – the Ags losing the second game by one goal.
“They’ll be coming off two games against BYU and Utah,” Garner said. “They’ll be tired and a little beat up. It’s going to be a good game.”
Friday’s game at Romney Stadium will start at 7:15 p.m. Saturday’s game will start at 1 p.m. and will be played on Tower Field.
Admission to both games is free.
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Utah State´s Matt Polityka helps protect the net against Colorado last week in Logan. The Aggies were beaten by the Buffalo 19-0 but are looking to improve offensive production Friday and Saturday against Ft. Lewis and San Diego State. (Photo by Ryan Talbot)