Women’s lacrosse drops away game to Utah

After a strong second half by the Utes, the Aggie women’s lacrosse team lost 16-3 at McCarthy Family Track and Field at the University of Utah on Saturday.

Utah State stuck with the Utah in the first half, trailing by only four points, 6-2 at the half.

“We wanted to come out really intense and focus on our play in the midfield,” said head coach Michelle Bowman.

Utah snagged the ball off the draw at the start of the second half, setting them up to score twice in quick succession.

“I think in the half you can get down on yourself,” said defender Rachel Quigley. “We tried to focus on some of the positive things that we’ve done.”

Bowman maintained the same plan for the second half but tried switching some positions around to combat Utah’s quick midfield.

“We tried to get our more sure-handed girls at wings so that they’re running the transition,” Bowman said. “We tried to keep our solid defensive stance, and we did really a good job standing our ground.”

After a third goal by the Aggies, the Utes secured control of the game with eight more second-half goals.

“I think we were getting flustered because they’re really good at their midfield ride,” said defender Cassidy Sonderegger.

Utah State was unable to close the gap and the U finished with a 13-point lead.

“It’s hard to take so many shots in a row and quickly and recover from that,” Quigley said. “I mean that’s the same for any team.”

Sonderegger said mental aspect of play was what needed to be on par for the Aggies.

“It’s any team’s game on any given day,” she said. “Just remembering you can come out on top.”

Utah State’s next game will be against Westminster on Saturday.

“We’ll go into … practice and try to pick up the intensity,” Bowman said. “Doing more game-like situations and trying to push those buttons a little more so they can get used to it when they’re on the field or in the game.”

— reid.al73@gmail.com