JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The University of Utah Lacrosse team battled from start to finish today on the road against Jacksonville, defeating the Dolphins 16-14. Utah improved to 5-4 overall and 3-1 in ASUN play.
A late rally by Jacksonville in the fourth quarter threatened the Utes, closing the gap to just one point heading into the final minute.
It would be the youth on the team that would seal the win with sophomore goalkeeper
Colin Lenskold coming up big in the cage while sophomore
Ryan Stines scored the 16
th goal with 26 seconds remaining to ice the game.
The Utes finished the game with 34 shots with 26 on goal, also recording 21 ground balls and four caused turnovers.
GAME LEADERS
Utah was led in points by senior
Tyler Bradbury, who finished with two goals and four assists, also adding three ground balls. Senior
Jordan Hyde and Stines tied for the team-lead in goals with five each, also recording two ground balls a piece.
Freshman
Mikey Crane put up a team-high four ground balls in the game with seniors
Joey Boylston and
Josh Rose and sophomores
Bryce Horton and
Nikko DiPonio all recording a caused turnover.
In goal, the brick wall himself,
Colin Lenskold, finished the game with 13 saves, including five in the fourth quarter.
FIRST QUARTER BREAKDOWN
The Dolphins got on the board first, taking a 1-0 lead with 12:22 on the clock, but it would be their only lead of the game as Utah tied things up just 60 seconds later with Stines' first goal and Bradbury's first assist of the game.
It would spark a 7-0 run for the Utes with goals from
Justus Peterson, Stines,
Jared Andreala,
Zachary White and Hyde, sending Utah into the next quarter up 7-2.
SECOND QUARTER BREAKDOWN
The Utes jumped out to a 9-3 lead with 10:48 on the clock in the second quarter on Hyde's third goal of the game and a spin-move, long-pole goal from
Colby Plotts. Hyde then went on to score his fourth with 9:30 to go before Jacksonville ended the scoring run to make it 10-4 just seconds later.
Hyde made it five goals in just the first half with 5:04 remaining in the quarter to give Utah an 11-4 lead with the Dolphins finding the back of the net with 2:19 on the clock to send the Utes into halftime with a six-point advantage.
THIRD QUARTER BREAKDOWN
Jacksonville opened the third quarter on a 3-0 scoring run, cutting the Utes lead to 11-8 with 10:51 on the clock. Utah would have an answer though with Stines and Bradbury scoring back-to-back goals to make it 13-8 with 8:45 to go.
The Dolphins would find one more point in the third quarter, but Stines and Bradbury continued their scoring efforts into the later part of the period, extending Utah's lead to 15-9 with one quarter to go.
FOURTH QUARTER BREAKDOWN
The Jacksonville rally began early in the fourth quarter, going on a 5-0 run that would make it a one-point game with 4:48 remaining.
It would be Lenskold keeping the Dolphins at bay down the stretch, coming up with two pivotal saves with under two minutes to play. Stines would score his fifth goal of the game on an empty net with 26 seconds left while Lenskold would record his final save with 11 seconds to secure the victory.
UP NEXT
The Utes return to Salt LAX City to take on Robert Morris on Friday, April 5. The game at Ute Field will be under the lights, starting at 6 p.m. MT.