Utah State lacrosse club comes up short
The Utah State men’s lacrosse team’s come-from-behind effort fell short Saturday as it lost to the University of Utah 8-7 in its final home game of the fall season.
The Aggies were down 6-1 early in the second quarter before rallying for five unanswered points to tie the score at six in the third quarter.
“We came out jittery,” said Head Coach Eddie Vega. “We gave up five quick goals to them and only one for our own. So, if you do that at the start of the game, it’s an uphill climb for the rest of the time. We came out, we played hard and we made Utah play its best.”
With the score tied at seven, early in the fourth quarter, the Utes found a way to get the ball past Aggie goalie Warner Behrmann to give Utah a one-point edge.
There would be no more goals scored after that as both teams played excellent defense the rest of the game.
“If we beat them, then we’re looking at the number two spot in the state,” said Aggie Kyle Fiat. “It’s a huge game, but we know that when we play them later in the season, we can hang with them.”
USU outscored the Utes 4-1 in the third quarter and spent most of the time on offense.
Tyler Berkey tied the game at seven late in the third quarter after catching a pass and shooting it while in the air.
Fiat and Berkey had two goals apiece for the Aggies to help them get back into the game.
USU was out-shot 14-10 and won two fewer face-offs than the Utes. USU also had two more
penalties.
The Aggies will go to Boise next weekend and Las Vegas the weekend after for a pair of tournaments. USU will play three or four games at each event.
“We’re going to play some pretty good teams down in Vegas and up in Boise, too,” Vega said.
The lacrosse season is divided between the fall and spring semesters with the majority of games coming in the spring.
“This fall season is work time,” Vega said. “It’s time to get the kinks out and get everything hammered down and get ready for spring, because that’s when it really counts.”
-bhhinton@cc.usu.edu