SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah lacrosse team recently hosted local teams Utah Valley, Westminster and BYU for a round robin tournament.
The Utes won all three games, defeating Utah Valley, 18-1, followed by a 9-5 win over Westminster before closing out the day with a 16-2 victory over BYU. Utah Valley and BYU are club-designated programs that play in the Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA) while Westminster is an NCAA Division II team.
"I'm very grateful for the opportunity to play and celebrate lacrosse and where we are right now," Utah head coach
Brian Holman said. "Reflecting back, less than two years ago we were scratching and clawing to compete with those teams and it was nice to see how far we've come. I liked the fact that we played a lot of lacrosse, which gives us some film on our players. That's what we're doing this week, is getting everyone in to look at what we're doing right and what we need to work on. We did some things that were really good, and at other times we looked like an October team, and we are. We're still getting into in-season shape. We'll focus our upcoming practices on what we saw on the field.
It was Utah's first time playing on Ute Field, the grass field that lacrosse shares with the soccer program.
"I thought it was a great day for our field and our new facility," Holman said. "I really want to thank soccer coach
Rich Manning for his blessing to use the field during their season and I want to thank the grounds crew and facilities staff for getting the field ready for us."
Fall practice continues for the Utes as they move into a period focused more on individual work vs. team practice.