Lacrosse comes from behind to win
Trailing by two goals at halftime, Utah State University men’s club lacrosse took control in the second half en route to a 14-11 victory over the University of Utah in Salt Lake City Saturday.
Heading into the contest against Utah, Paul Larkin, president of the USU lacrosse club, said the Utes arranged to play the Aggies because Ute coach Mason Goodhand was impressed with how competitive the Aggies were at last month’s Fall Brawl.
“That’s the first time USU has beat the University of Utah since the 1980s,” vice president Jonathan Atwood said. “This is the most solid I have ever seen Utah State play.”
Both Atwood and Larkin said they expected a tight, hard-fought game. After all, the two team’s had eerily similar results against common opponents, with both teams defeating Tenacious D by a single goal and both teams falling to Colorado State University by nine goals.
While it was a nip and tuck game through the first three periods, Atwood said the Aggies were able to take a comfortable four-goal lead with four minutes remaining in the game.
Atwood and club treasurer Braden Jenkins said USU took control of the game when the Ute players started getting down on themselves. USU’s team continuity was better than Utah’s, Atwood said.
“We wore out their spirits,” Atwood said. “We played with a lot of heart.”
Jenkins said, “I think they were mentally worn out. They were so frustrated. It just feels good to know that our team came out really strong.
“The entire game was just a confidence builder for us,” he said.
In order to combat Utah’s aggressive defense, Atwood said the Aggies relied on deft passing. Utah’s defense is very good at knocking the ball loose on slap checks, Atwood said, making crisp passing even more important.
“We worked the ball around very well,” he said. “We didn’t drop passes.”
Jenkins said, “We passed the ball a lot cleaner than we did at the Fall Brawl.”
Solid picks and sharp cuts toward the Ute goal contributed to USU’s success, Jenkins said.
“We controlled the pace of the game,” Atwood said.