BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Freshman
Mac Costin had his first career hat trick to lead the Utah lacrosse team as the Utes fell to 19
th-ranked Lehigh, 16-11 on Saturday afternoon.
Utah (1-1) led 5-3 early in the second quarter after goals from
Jimmy Perkins, Costin and
Colin Burke before Lehigh scored five-straight goals to take an 8-5 lead. The Utes kept pace and came back within two goals twice, including back-to-back goals from
Aaron Fjeldsted and Perkins at the end of the third quarter to cut Utah's deficit to 11-9. Lehigh scored the first three goals of the fourth quarter en-route to the win.
The Utes struggled with penalties, offering seven extra-man opportunities to Lehigh which turned into five man-up goals.
"I thought we played hard, the effort was clearly there, but if we are going to beat teams of that caliber we have to be a lot cleaner," head coach
Brian Holman said. "Our turnovers to goals ratio wasn't very good and we can't be in the penalty box that many times. Those were the two most crucial parts of the game. I loved the effort, but Lehigh is a very good team and if we're going to take the next step we have to be better. We'll work this week to clean those things up and be ready for our next opponent."
Burke led Utah in points with two goals and three assists. Costin had three points with his three goals while
Josh Stout (1G, 2A) also had three points.
James Sexton and Perkins each scored two goals while Fjeldsted scored a goal and had an assist.
Samuel Cambere led Utah with five ground balls and four caused turnovers. Other defensive standouts include
Seth Neeleman (4 GB, 2 CT),
Nick Hapney (2 GB, 2 CT),
Jonathan Rose (4 GB, 1 CT) and
Reuben Santana (3 GB, 3 CT).
Liam Donnelly played most of the game in goal, making 13 saves, while Zion DeChesere also spent time between the pipes.
Utah returns to Salt Lake City for its next two games, hosting Air Force on Saturday, Feb. 15, at 12:00 p.m. MT.
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