Men’s lacrosse exacts revenge against Utah
The Utah State University men’s lacrosse club felt the sweetness of revenge as they defeated the University of Utah 10-7 Saturday in Salt Lake City – the same team that held the Aggies scoreless a week earlier.
“We had a salty taste in our mouth for sure, and we just wanted to come out and show them [U of U] how Utah State can play,” said Aggie midfielder Micah Platte.
And come out strong they did. Although the Utes scored the first goal of the game, the Aggies didn’t panic as they put three shots into the back of the net to take a 3-1 lead at the end of the first quarter.
But despite the solid play from USU in the opening quarter, the Aggies seemed to break down, captain Thad Nicholls said, and Utah was able to capitalize by taking advantage of some great shots.
The Utes kept the Aggies from scoring the entire quarter, and went into halftime with a 6-3 lead.
After a halftime pep talk, the Aggies came out with the same intensity they had played with in the first quarter, Nicholls said. Seven goals later, the Aggies finished the game on top, 10-7.
“We had to just concentrate and settle into what we knew how to do,” Nicholls said. “We just focused all of our potential on one goal and it ended up working and coming together in the end.
So what was the difference two weeks ago when the Aggies lost to the Utes 2-0 in the Boise State University tournament? Platte said it was the length of the game.
“Tournament games are shorter, so when we played a full four-quarter game against the Utes, we ran them into the ground because we’re superior in our conditioning,” he said. “We’re a pretty big team and pretty athletic; everybody can run the field.”
Those who scored for USU were Kyle Fiat, who led with four goals, Nicholls with three, Al Garner with two and one goal from Evan Nitchman.
Following the win, other than the second-quarter lapse, the most important aspect USU feels it needs to work on is teamwork, captain Garner said.
“We need to come together a little more as a team,” he said. “[We need to] hang out off the field as much as on the field, and learn each others’ mannerisms.”
The Aggies will have the chance to come closer together this weekend when they play in the Best of the West tournament in Las Vegas, Nev. The tournament starts Friday and goes through Sunday.
-csmo@cc.usu.edu