JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The University of Utah lacrosse program battled the Bellarmine University Knights and walked away with an 18-11 win, earning the chance for their third straight ASUN Tournament title, at Rock Stadium on Friday afternoon.
FIRST QUARTER
The Knights started the match, putting the first point on the board. The Utes quickly followed with a run of three, thanks to goals by freshmen
Sky Rold and
Luke McNamara, and sophomore
Cade Faulkner.
Bellarmine and Utah's junior
Zachary White would each score one more to end the first quarter in the Utah's favor, 4-2.
SECOND QUARTER
Though the Utes out shot their opponent 15-11, the second quarter was won by Bellarmine. With the Knights going on a 6-3 run to keep Utah at bay.
McNamara clocked two man-up goals to help close the deficit, tallying a hat trick in the first, alongside freshman
Chase Robertson's score to tie the game. With a Bellarmine goal in the last minute of the half, the Utes would finish the second quarter in an 8-7 deficit.
THIRD QUARTER
Utah came out of the half with renewed energy, junior
Will Overly proving it and putting the Utes back in the game, tying it at 8 in the first minute. The Knights would follow with a goal to take the lead, 8-7, but it would be the last time they'd take the advantage.
With a ground ball from junior
Colin Lenskold, the Utes would toss it through the middle and in to the offense for McNamara to claim his fourth goal of the match. Allowing the Knights only one shot in four minutes, McNamara would receive the ball from junior
Ryan Stines and quickly release it to tie his career-high and his fifth goal of the match.
Less than a minute later, sophomore
Cade Faulkner hit the net, and seven seconds later, McNamara marked his sixth of the game, earning a new career-high. Stines and White finished off the quarter for Utah, putting the Utes up at a 14-9 advantage after a 7-1 run.
FOURTH QUARTER
Bellarmine would try to come back, hitting the net at the beginning of the fourth, but Rold and Overly would follow with a goal, adding to Utah's five-point advantage. With eight minutes left of the game, the Knights marked their final goal, but Utah wasn't done.
With an assist from Stines, junior
Luc Charbonnier scored his first goal of the match on a man-up opportunity, and McNamara put the nail in the Knights' coffin with his seventh goal of the game. Lenskold was able to save two Bellarmine attempts, keeping them in a seven-point deficit to finish the game.
GAME LEADERS
Freshman
Luke McNamara ran the Utah offense, marking a career-high of seven goals, three with a man-up advantage. Junior
Ryan Stines continues his success as the team play-maker, leading in points (eight) and assists (seven), earning a career-high in single-game assists and tying his career-high in points. Juniors
Will Overly and
Zachary White, sophomore
Cade Faulkner and freshman
Sky Rold would all bring in two goals to help the Utes advance.
On the defensive end, three Utes picked up four ground balls a piece, juniors
Colin Lenskold and
Nikko DiPonio and sophomore
Luca Pivetta. Pivetta dominated on the turnover side, causing three, with sophomore
Mikey Crane following with two. In the cage, Lenskold marked six saves.
GAME HIGHLIGHTS
- With his seven goals, McNamara earned a career-high of seven points and now sits in second on the all-time single game high roster for his seven scores.
- The Utes held their opponent to just one goal in the third quarter.
- McNamara now has eight man-up goals under his belt this season.
- White marked a career-high of five points (two goals, three assists).
- Utah outshot Bellarmine 50-29, the second-largest margin this season.
- The Utes took advantage of five man-up opportunities, but kept their opponent 0-2 in the same statistic.
NEXT UP
The Utes will face the winner of the Jacksonville vs. Air Force match, in the Championship game on Sunday, at 10 a.m. at Rock Stadium.