USU lacrosse squares off against alumni
Current and past USU lacrosse players came together for a friendly match on Friday, Oct. 6. The annual tournament is a longstanding tradition for the club, and this year’s event was nothing short of exciting for fans.
Each participant had only positive things to say about the tradition. Standout attackman Cooper Williams enjoyed sharing the field with older competitors.
“We have the alumni come out from all over the place. We get together and have dinner after. It’s a great time seeing them and playing with them,” Williams said.
He uses this opportunity to reconnect with his old teammates as well as make new friends.
“This is my junior year, so a lot of those people over there I’ve played with,” Williams said. “They’re great friends to me, and I love the team. They’re always supporting me.”
Assistant coach Steve Gawrys has always looked forward to the alumni game, having been a part of it for years.
“It’s one of the best traditions ever. I’m very biased because I’ve been able to participate as an alumni for the past couple of years, and it’s always fun to see the team. The fact that I’ve been able to hop back on the coaching staff this year has been a blast,” Gawrys said. “The current team is a really good group of guys: hard working, really talented, and led by Coach Bingham, who’s steering the ship in the right direction.”
Gawrys sees the game as an opportunity for students to meet and compete against older and more experienced players.
“For an alumni night like tonight, being able to share the field with the guys and enjoy an evening of connecting the generations of players is just the best thing ever,” Gawrys said.
The alumni game tradition has a long and storied history, stretching back to the program’s origins.
“My freshman year was 10 years ago, and even then it was a long-standing tradition. I assume it started with the program back in the ‘70s,” Gawrys said.
The current players use the game as an opportunity to hone their skills for the spring season.
“The fall is our off-season, so this is all in prep for spring. This is a good chance for guys to walk through a lot of good plays and fine-tune a lot of things in preparation,” Gawrys said.
Nate Nelson, an alumni watching the game from the crowd, loves seeing new teams take on the old guard.
“It’s nice seeing how much the program has grown over the past 20 years. It was so small back then, we had little funding. But seeing how far the team has come and seeing a full alumni team to play against is pretty cool,” Nelson said.
Nelson’s time with the lacrosse team shaped his experience on campus.
“It made my Utah State experience. It’s the No. 1 best thing I did. Made lifelong friends, had awesome experiences, got to travel around the Western U.S. It was really neat,” Nelson said.
As for the game itself, neither team would disappoint. The Aggies came out of the gate swinging, forcing the alumni into a defensive position. It wouldn’t be that easy though, as the alumnus goalie made four crucial saves within just a few minutes before finally surrendering two goals to freshman Ben Booth and junior Preston Honey.
Not to be outdone, the alumni squad roared back with two quick goals of their own, finding the back of the net to bring them within one.
The Aggies continued to hold possession for much of the quarter, but a heroic effort from the alumni defense kept the dam from breaking wide open, only allowing a single goal right before the end of the first quarter. Even that effort wasn’t enough to stop them, though, as an unmarked Aggie led them to yet another 2-point lead.
Seemingly rejuvenated, the alumni launched an all-out attack, finishing off a long offensive sequence with a devastating strike.
Both teams settled in, playing solid defense and holding the score. Eventually, a slew of Aggies found 3 straight goals to extend their lead to 4.
Just as the half ended, the alumni rallied one last time to bring the game to 4-7 before the buzzer. They would struggle to score again after that.
After the break, the Aggies once again went on the offense but struggled to find pay dirt. Booth would be the first to break through, sneaking past the alumni goalkeeper.
At this point, the Aggies began to pile it on, putting the game out of reach with a backbreaking shot from Booth. A late goal from the alumni couldn’t stop the USU freight train, and the game would end 14-5.
Gawrys hopes the team can carry this momentum into their spring season.
“We want to win the national championship. That’s the ultimate goal,” Gawrys said. “We have the talent to do it, we have the coaching to do it. The school’s been good to us, and we’re itching to get the job done this year.”