Utes Look to Continue Winning Ways Saturday at Home

Saturday, February 28

Salt Lake City, Utah

12:00 PM

University of Utah

Iona

Utes Look to Continue Winning Ways Saturday at Home

2/26/2026 10:57 AM | Lacrosse

Game Notes (PDF)

Utah takes on the Iona Gaels for the first time in program history inside Rice-Eccles Stadium Saturday at noon MT.

SALT LAKE CITY – The University of Utah lacrosse program returns to Rice-Eccles Stadium and will look to win consecutive games for the first time this season when it takes on Iona at 12 p.m. MT on Saturday, Feb. 28. The first-ever meeting between the Utes and Gaels will be streamed live on ESPN+ with Scott Kellner and Brad Searle on the call.

Opponent: Iona (0-7, 0-0 MAAC)
Location: Rice-Eccles Stadium | Salt Lake City, Utah
Date: Saturday, Feb. 28
Time: 12 p.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 54-44 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 42-25.
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 in the 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 and has gone 32-4 against ASUN opponents.

LAST TIME OUT
Utah got back in the win column with a dominant 17-8 win on the road against Merrimack Saturday.

Ryan Stines led the offense with nine points – the fourth most in a game in program history – on five goals and four assists.
Like McNamara scored his second hat trick of the season, finishing with four goals, while Will Overly, Jordan Reed and Cade Faulkner all found netting multiple times.
Seven Utes logged a goal on the day while 11 tallied at least a point.
Nikko DiPonio (four CT, seven GB), Luca Pivetta (five GB) and Mikey Crane (three CT, four GB) led a stellar defensive effort that allowed just five goals in the first 45 minutes of play.
Tyler Kloeckl won 10 of 14 faceoffs in the circle while Colin Lenskold made nine stops in the cage.

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	202 (2)	Tyler Bradbury	216
Goals	Ryan Stines	121 (2)	Jordan Hyde	150
Assists	Ryan Stines	81 (2)	Tyler Bradbury	108
Ground Balls	Nikko DiPonio	231 (3)	Cole Brams	363
Caused Turnovers	Nikko DiPonio	86 (2)	Sammy Cambere	97
Man-Up Goals	Luke McNamara	11 (3)	Jared Andreala	12
Saves	Colin Lenskold	564 (1)	Colin Lenskold	564

NUMBERS TO KNOW

39 – Ryan Stines is riding a 39-game point streak, scoring at least a point in every game since May 5, 2023.
13 – The Utes are averaging 13.5 caused turnovers per game, the best mark in the ASUN and the second best mark nationally.
9 – Stines' nine points against Merrimack on five goals and four assists tied for the fourth most in a single game in Utah program history. Stines leads the ASUN in assists per game and points per game and ranks fourth in goals per game.
9 – Utah is allowing just 9.75 goals per game so far this season, the second fewest in the ASUN and 19th 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 second in career points (202) and goals (121) 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 53 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 IONA
Iona is in its second season as a Division I program.

The Gaels went 2-13 in their debut season, but have started the 2026 campaign on a seven-game losing skid.
Iona has been outscored by a 110-52 margin so far this season.
Cullen Lawry (10 goals, seven assists), Carson Turissini (seven goals, eight assists) and Jimmy Kennedy (seven goals, three assists) lead the Iona offense, all totaling double-digit points.
Gary Shivell paces the defensive front, totaling nine caused turnovers and 17 GBs.
Noah Perea has started each of the last two games in the cage, making 43 saves while allowing 34 goals.

FAN INFORMATION
Utah will host two more games at Rice-Eccles Stadium (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 be back in action again at Rice-Eccles Stadium to open the month of March, taking on Dartmouth on Saturday, March 7. The Utes fell, 11-9, in the first meeting between the two sides last season.

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