Utes March East for Matchup with Merrimack

Saturday, February 21

North Andover, Mass.

10:00 AM

University of Utah

Merrimack

2/19/2026 11:35 AM | Lacrosse

Game Notes (PDF)

Utah take on the Warriors for the first time in program history on Saturday at 10 a.m. MT

SALT LAKE CITY – The University of Utah lacrosse program will head back on the road looking to snap a two-game losing skid when it takes on Merrimack at 10 a.m. MT on Saturday, Feb. 21. The first-ever meeting between the Utes and Warriors will be streamed live on ESPN+.

Opponent: Merrimack (1-2, 0-0 MAAC)
Location: Duane Stadium | North Andover, Mass.
Date: Saturday, Feb. 21
Time: 12 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. MT
Watch: ESPN+
Live Stats: UtahUtes.com

UTAH LACROSSE: NEED TO KNOWS
Utah is in its eighth year as a Division I program, holding a 53-44 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 41-25.
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 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 dropped its home opener to Denver by the narrowest of margins, falling 8-7 at Rice-Eccles Stadium.

Cade Faulkner led the Utah offense with his second hat trick of the season, while Ryan Stines (two goals) and Zachary White (two assists) each logged multiple points.
Nikko DiPonio (three CT), Marco Pascarella (two CT, one GB) and White (two CT, three GB) led the defensive effort in front of Colin Lenskold, who made nine saves in the cage to go with five ground balls and a caused turnover.
Tyler Kloeckl won eight faceoffs and collected seven ground balls, leading the Utes in the center circle.
The Utes outshot the Pioneers, 50-28, and held a 27-17 lead in shots on goal. The two sides were even with 31 ground balls apiece, while Denver held a 10-9 edge in faceoff wins.
Utah is now 0-7 all-time against Denver with four of those losses being by two goals or fewer, including the last two matchups.

GAME ONE WON
Utah claimed the first win of the 2026 Division I lacrosse calendar with a 16-9 win over Delaware in the season opener.

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.

RECORD WATCH
This season's Utah team has already left its mark on the record book, with a number of players looking to set program records before season's end.

Stat	Current Player	Total (Rank)	Record Holder	Total
Points	Ryan Stines	193 (2)	Tyler Bradbury	216
Goals	Ryan Stines	116 (2)	Jordan Hyde	150
Assists	Ryan Stines	77 (2)	Tyler Bradbury	108
Ground Balls	Nikko DiPonio	224 (3)	Cole Brams	363
Caused Turnovers	Nikko DiPonio	82 (2)	Sammy Cambere	97
Man-Up Goals	Luke McNamara	10 (3)	Jared Andreala	12
Saves	Colin Lenskold	555 (1)	Colin Lenskold	555

NUMBERS TO KNOW

38 – Ryan Stines is riding a 38-game point streak, scoring at least a point in every game since May 5, 2023.
10 – Colin Lenskold is averaging 10.0 saves per game through the first three games of 2026, the third-best mark in the ASUN.
32 – Lenskold, the program record holder in career and single-season saves, has allowed 12 goals or fewer in 32 of his 51 career games.
7.67 – Utah is allowing just 7.67 goals per game so far this season, the second fewest in the ASUN and 15th nationally.
6 – Nikko DiPonio's six caused turnovers in the season opener against Delaware are tied for the most by any player nationally in a game this season.

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 currently ranks third in career points (193) and goals (116) 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 52 games during his four 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.

SCOUTING MERRIMACK
Merrimack is 4-12 in two years under head coach Mike Sciamanna.

The Warriors are coming off their first win of the season, a 13-6 victory over Bryant, after losing to UMass and Holy Cross to start the year.
Merrimack finished 3-10 in 2025, going 2-6 in conference play.
Casey Herod and Colin Kruger lead the offensive attack, each totaling eight points through three games, while Finn Dougherty leads the team with five goals.
Daniel Bezrutchenko has been strong on the faceoff, winning 23-of-44 tries this season.
Jaden Galfano manned the cage last time out, making 13 saves on 49 shots while allowing just six goals en route to the win.

LOOKING AHEAD
Utah will close out the month of February at home, taking on Iona on February 28 inside Rice-Eccles Stadium at noon. It will be the first-ever meeting between the two squads.

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