Lacrosse travels to Salt lake City for exhibition against the Utes
Only three weeks removed from hosting the Fall Brawl, the Utah State University men’s lacrosse club will return to action on Saturday at 11 a.m. against in-state nemesis the University of Utah.
Saturday’s game will be contested at Utah’s West Field, just west of the HPER complex and northwest of the Huntsmen Center.
“Utah is a very good team,” club Vice President Jonathan Atwood said. “It’s going to be a good team for us to learn from.”
Saturday’s meeting between the two teams is a direct result of the Fall Brawl, club President Paul Larkin said. Both teams competed in the tournament and the Utes wanted to play the Aggies after seeing how competitive they were, Larkin said.
While the Aggies and Utes didn’t play each other, two of their three matches were against common opponents. Both teams defeated Tenacious D, a Salt Lake City based club team, by a single goal and both teams were defeated by club powerhouse Colorado State University by nine goals.
Given these facts, both Atwood and Larkin are expecting a tightly-contested game when USU and Utah square off.
“I think we are fairly evenly matched up,” Larkin said.
Both Atwood and Larkin said the Utes’ recent success – they defeated Utah Valley State College in the third place game at the Fall Brawl – has a lot to do with their coach and team leaders.
“I think they proved they are going to be a good team,” Larkin said. “They have a really good head coach.”
Atwood said, “They’re organization is very well put together. I would say their strength lies in their team leadership.”
If the Aggies need any extra incentive to beat the Utes, the Utes’ recent decision to make the jump from a Division II team in the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Lacrosse League (RMILL) to a Division I team should be additional
motivation.
In order to defeat the Utes, Larkin said the team needs to capitalize on its scoring chances and rely on a total team effort.
“We need to try to play as a team offensively,” he said. “We need to be able to play off what their defense is giving us and capitalize on our opportunities [to score].”
Constant pressure on the Ute defense, Larkin said, is also a must.
“Their defense does a really good job sticking their man,” he said. “You have to really work to get open.”
USU will also have to keep a close eye on Ute attacker Steve Kladdis, a player Atwood said is one of the best players in the state.
Despite the loss of Robert Peterson to a knee injury, Larkin said the team is fairly healthy. Defenseman Robert Ward has returned from an injury which forced him to miss the Fall Brawl. His return will further solidify the defense, Larkin said.
In addition to playing the Utes, the Aggies plan on playing a couple more exhibition games before the spring season starts in March.