Lacrosse Opens Home Slate Saturday against Denver

Saturday, February 14

Salt Lake City, Utah

12:00 PM

University of Utah

Denver

Lacrosse Opens Home Slate Saturday against Denver

2/12/2026 2:30 PM | Lacrosse

Utah Game Notes (PDF)Denver Game Notes (PDF)

Utes take on the Pioneers inside Rice-Eccles Stadium at noon on Valentine’s Day

SALT LAKE CITY – The University of Utah will play its first home game of the season on Saturday, Feb. 14, at 12 p.m. when the Utes welcome the Denver Pioneers to Rice-Eccles Stadium. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ with Dane Stewart and Brad Searle on the call.

Opponent: Denver (2-0, 0-0 Big East)
Location: Rice-Eccles Stadium | Salt Lake City, Utah
Date: Saturday, Feb. 14
Time: 12 p.m. MT
Watch: ESPN+
Live Stats: UtahUtes.com

UTAH LACROSSE: NEED TO KNOWS
Utah is entering its eighth year as a Division I program, holding a 53-43 overall record.

Head coach Andrew McMinn is in his fifth season with the Utes and is the all-time wins leader at Utah with a record of 41-24.
The Utes are in their fifth season in the ASUN Conference, coming off four consecutive ASUN regular season titles (2022, 2023, 2024, 2025) and two ASUN Championships in the last three seasons (2023, 2024).
Utah is receiving votes in both the KANE Division I Media Poll and the USILA Coaches Poll.
Nikko DiPonio was named the 2025 ASUN Defensive Player of the Year and earned All-America Honorable Mention status by USA Lacrosse, USILA and Inside Lacrosse. He was named a USA Lacrosse Preseason All-America Honorable Mention in 2026.
DiPonio was unanimously selected as the Preseason ASUN Defensive Player of the Year while Ryan Stines was unanimously voted the league's Preseason Offensive Player of the Year last month.
Utah earned the top spot in the preseason ASUN Coaches Poll, the fifth straight year that Utah has been voted at least tied for No. 1 preseason ranking in the league.
Per LacrosseReference, Utah returns 98% of its production in goal, 96% from the stripe, 81% on defense and 78% on offense.
In five seasons under Coach McMinn, Utah has set more than 70 program records has gone 32-4 against ASUN opponents.

LAST TIME OUT
Utah fell to No. 11 Duke in its first true road game of the season, losing 14-7 last Friday.

Stines paced the Utah offense, tallying five points on a goal and four helpers, while Luke McNamara notched his second hat trick in as many games.
Nathan Chalmers scored twice and Conner Flanagan scored his first collegiate goal to enter the scoring column for the first time in 2026.
Marco Pascarella led the defensive effort for the Utes with two caused turnovers and five ground balls, while Diponio tallied a pair of CTs and GBs himself. Colin Lenskold faced 51 shots in the cage – one shy of his career high – and made 13 saves.
Utah was outshot 51-29 by the Blue Devils and finished 1-of-4 on man-up opportunities.

NEW YEAR, SAME UTES
Utah claimed the first win of the 2026 Division I lacrosse calendar with a 16-9 win over Delaware last time out.

Utah fell behind 3-0 early and trailed 4-3 after the first 15 minutes, but outscored the Blue Hens 12-6 in the final three quarters.
Five Utes entered the scoring column and nine tallied at least a point in the season opener, led by Stines Stines (4 G, 3 A), McNamara (5 G, 1 A) and Cade Faulkner (4 G, 1 A).
DiPonio paced the defense with six caused turnovers, six ground balls and a goal.
Tyler Kloeckl won 14 of his 23 faceoff tries and Lenskold made nine saves in the win.
Following the win, Stines and DiPonio were recognized with ASUN weekly awards, being named Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week.
Stines was also selected as the Lax Lab Player of the Week and was one of four finalists for Inside Lacrosse's Player of the Week award.

OH CAPTAINS, MY CAPTAINS
Utah will be led by a trio of seniors in 2026 - Ryan Stines, Nikko DiPonio and Will Overly.

Stines, the 2024 ASUN Player of the Year and 2023 ASUN Freshman of the Year, will look to again pace Utah's offensive attack.
He enters the season ranked third in career points (162) and goals (103) and holds the program records for assists (40) and points (67) in a single season.
Stines has led the Utes in points each of the last two seasons and has started all 49 games during his three seasons at Utah.
DiPonio was named the conference's Defensive Player of the Year and was selected as a USILA, Inside Lacrosse and USA Lacrosse All-America honorable mention in 2025, as well as earning All-ASUN First Team honors each of the last two years.
He led the ASUN and ranked 12th nationally with 6.85 ground balls per game, while his 96 total ground balls ranked third in single-season program history.
Overly played in 15 games in the midfield a season ago, tallying 24 points on 14 goals and 10 assists while also recording seven ground balls and a caused turnover - all of which marked career bests.

SERIES HISTORY
Utah is winless in six games against Denver, having played one another every year aside from the COVID-shortened 2020 season.

Three of the six matchups between the Utes and Pioneers have been decided by two goals or less, including last season's 10-8 affair.
Saturday marks just the third meeting in the state of Utah between to two of the Western-most squads in collegiate lacrosse.

SCOUTING DENVER
The Pioneers have got off to an incredibly hot start in 2026, outscoring their two opponents 30-3.

Head coach Matt Brown is in his third season at the helm of the Denver program, sporting a 22-11 record.
Denver finished 7-7 overall in 2025, going 2-3 in Big East play.
The Pioneers are ranked No. 20 nationally in both the USA Lacrosse media poll and the USILA coaches poll and are receiving votes in the KANE Division I media poll.
Denver has finished in the top 10 in scoring defense each of the past two seasons.
Chase Bruno, Marek Tzagournis, Watt Muir, and Cody Malawsky lead the Pioneer attack, each having tallied six or more points so far this season.
Grayson Manning will man the goal for Denver, sporting a .913 save percentage and a pair of wins in two starts in 2026.

FAN INFORMATION
Utah will host three games at Rice-Eccles Stadium (Feb. 14, Feb. 28, March 7) and three at Ute Field (March 28, April 18, April 25) during the 2026 home season. To help fans prepare for game day and enjoy the best possible experience, Utah Athletics has created this page with information on tickets, a map of available parking on game day, as well as stadium policies.

LOOKING AHEAD
Utah will hit the road for its first-ever meeting with Merrimack on Saturday, Feb. 21, before returning home to close out the month of February against Iona inside Rice-Eccles Stadium at noon on Feb. 28.

STAY CONNECTED
Fans can follow along on social media (X: @UTAHLacrosse | Instagram: @utahlacrosse), and the official mobile app of Utah Athletics, Utah360 -- download here.