Lacrosse Drops Nailbiter at Air Force

Saturday, February 20

Colorado Springs, CO

12:00 PM

University of Utah

1-2

Air Force

1-1

Utah

Air Force

Photo Credit: Connor Cunningham

2/20/2021 4:04 PM | Lacrosse

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Utah lacrosse dropped a heart breaker Saturday afternoon at Air Force, 10-9.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – It was another heavy-weight bout between the Utah lacrosse team and Air Force as the two programs went toe-to-toe the entire match before Air Force found the back of the net with 1:35 left in the overtime period, handing Utah the 10-9 loss Saturday afternoon at Falcon Stadium.

The Utes struck first in the opening frame on a laser from Jack Barron before Air Force tied things up at the 5:57 mark. Barron netted his second goal 1:17 into the next quarter in a man-up situation for Utah but the Falcons answered each goal by the Utes before back-to-back strikes gave the home team a 4-3 lead heading into halftime.

.@jackbarronn with his second goal of the game and Utah is up 2-1!#roadwarriors #goutes pic.twitter.com/UflKcORzmC
— Utah Lacrosse (@UtahLacrosse) February 20, 2021

Tyler Bradbury found Josh Rose in the opening minutes of the second half (11:38), tying things up at 4-4 but the back-and-forth action continued between the two budding rivals.

Josh Rose with a laser! Utah ties the game 4-4 here in the third quarter. #roadwarriors #goutes pic.twitter.com/4gUJKwwUUR
— Utah Lacrosse (@UtahLacrosse) February 20, 2021

Air Force broke up the tie 59 seconds into the fourth quarter and went ahead 6-5 before Utah (1-2) took an 8-6 lead at 8:22 mark when Barron connected with Bradbury for the third man-up goal in as many opportunities. Drew Wasserman started the 3-0 spurt for Utah when Bradbury found him for the man-up goal before Wilson scored on his own.

There he goes again! @drewwasserman9 evens the game once more. 6-6 here in Q4.#roadwarriors #goutes pic.twitter.com/4MKmwIth2c
— Utah Lacrosse (@UtahLacrosse) February 20, 2021

Quincy Peene knotted things up, 8-8, for Air Force on back-to-back goals within a minute span. From there, the Falcons continued to attack the Utah defense and took five-straight shots at Zack Johns – who finished with 14 saves. However, a turnover after the fifth shot led to Ruben Santana grabbing the ground ball and a fast break goal for the Utes on a strike from MJ McMahon with 1:55 left to play.

Less than a minute after the face-off, Air Force (1-1) put away the eventual game-tying goal at the 1:03 mark before the clock struck zero to send the game into overtime.

Air Force won the opening face-off in the extra period, but Johns was able to get a groundball to give Utah possession. Down on the offensive end, Bradbury found a line of sight and laced one on goal but AFA's goalie was able to make the save. After a timeout by the Falcons at the 1:55 mark in OT, Gianni Orlando was able to sneak one past Johns on the second shot of the possession for the win.

Utah will now head home and regroup before heading to Baltimore, Md., for its fourth-straight road game to start the year at Loyola on Saturday, Feb. 27.

NOTABLES

Bradbury's 3 assists is the first time since Aaron Fjelsted had 3 assists at Hartford (4/13/19)
Third-straight game for Bradbury with 4-plus points
The 4 points for Wilson ties his career-high vs. Detroit Mercy (4/27/19)
Brams was bested at face-off, winning just 9-of-22 opportunities

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