Dartmouth Up Next for Utah Lacrosse

Saturday, March 7

Salt Lake City, Utah

12:00 PM

University of Utah

Dartmouth

3/5/2026 11:30 AM | Lacrosse

Game Notes (PDF)

Utes and Big Green set to face off Saturday at noon inside Rice-Eccles Stadium.

SALT LAKE CITY – The University of Utah lacrosse program returns to Rice-Eccles Stadium riding a two-game win streak and will look to continue building momentum when it takes on the Dartmouth Big Green at 12 p.m. MT on Saturday, March. The first-ever meeting between the two sides in Salt Lake City will be streamed live on ESPN+ with Dane Stewart and Brad Searle on the call. Admission is free for all fans.

Opponent: Dartmouth (3-1, 0-0 Ivy League)
Location: Rice-Eccles Stadium | Salt Lake City, Utah
Date: Saturday, March 7
Time: 12 p.m. MT
Watch:ESPN+
Live Stats:UtahUtes.com

RECORDS REWRITTEN
Utah's 32-4 win over Iona last time out marked the most dominant game in program history.

Luke McNamara scored 10 goals – the first Ute to ever score in double-digits in a game and the first NCAA men's lacrosse player to do so since 2020 – and added an assist for 11 points, the second most in a game in program history.
Utah's 32 goals tied for the fourth most in a single game in NCAA Division I history and shattered the previous team record of 26.
The Utes became the first team since the 1999 season to score 30-plus goals in a game, and Utah's 49 total points – including a program-record 17 assists – were the most in any game so far this season.
24 different Utes tallied at least a point on the day and 16 scored at least once, with six - McNamara, Karson Sparks, Luke Sheppard, Ryan Stines, Jordan Reed and Sean Siracusa - finding netting multiple times.
Notably, three Utah defenders scored pole goals as Luca Pivetta, Dallin Tanner and Conner Flanagan all slotted shots past the goalie.
Nine Utah Utes – Sheppard, Siracusa, Pivetta, Tanner, Gavin Howard, Luke Haley, Quinn Power, Ian Ludewig and Ben Trask – entered the scoring column for the first time this season, with Sheppard, Siracusa, Power and Ludewig doing so for the first time in their collegiate careers.
Utah won 30-of-39 faceoff tries, the second-best faceoff win percentage in program history (.769), and nabbed 53 ground balls, the third most in a single game. The Utes also allowed the second-fewest goals in a game in program history on 10 total saves.
Tyler Kloeckl won 13 of his 15 faceoffs for the third-best single-game win percentage in program history (.867), one spot ahead of Anthony Dara after he won eight of 10 tries (.800).
Utah was lethal in the transition game, converting on all 21 of their clearance attempts and forced turnovers on four of Iona's tries.
Utah attempted 61 total shots compared to Iona's 25 attempts and held a 49-14 edge in shots on goal.
McNamara and Nikko DiPonio swept the ASUN weekly awards following the win, with McNamara being recognized as the conference's Offensive Player of the Week and DiPonio being named Defensive Player of the Week.

UTAH LACROSSE: NEED TO KNOWS
Utah is in its eighth year as a Division I program, holding a 55-44 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 43-25.
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 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 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.

ROAD WARRIORS
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.
Luke 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 (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 career records before season's end.

Stat	Current Player	Total (Rank)	Record Holder	Total
Points	Ryan Stines	204 (2)	Tyler Bradbury	216
Goals	Ryan Stines	123 (2)	Jordan Hyde	150
Assists	Ryan Stines	81 (2)	Tyler Bradbury	108
Ground Balls	Nikko DiPonio	241 (3)	Cole Brams	363
Caused Turnovers	Nikko DiPonio	87 (2)	Sammy Cambere	97
Man-Up Goals	Luke McNamara	12 (T1)	Jared Andreala	12
Saves	Colin Lenskold	568 (1)	Colin Lenskold	568

NUMBERS TO KNOW

40 – Ryan Stines is riding a 40-game point streak, scoring at least a point in every game since May 5, 2023.
1 – Utah leads the ASUN in goals per game (15.80), assists per game (10.00), points per game (25.80), ground balls per game (37.60), faceoff win percentage (.586), and save percentage (.574).
10 – Luke McNamara became the first NCAA Division I men's lacrosse player to score 10 or more goals in a game since the 2020 season.
1999 – Utah became the first squad since the turn of the century to eclipse the 30-goal mark when it dropped 32 against Iona. The last team to put up a 30-burger was Johns Hopkins against Saint Joseph's on April 21, 1999.
3 – Utah's 15.80 goals per game rank as the third-best mark in the nation and the best in the ASUN. The Utes also rank third nationally with 11.80 caused turnovers per game and 10.00 assists per game.
2 – Nikko DiPonio ranks second nationally and sits atop the ASUN with 3.20 caused turnovers per game.
10 – Ryan Stines and Luke McNamara rank tenth nationally and tie for first in the conference with 5.00 points per game.
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. He is one of nine players in the country with multiple games with four-plus caused turnovers.

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 (204) and goals (123) 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.

FAN INFORMATION
Utah will host its final game at Rice-Eccles Stadium Saturday, followed by three at Ute Field (March 28, April 18, April 25) to round out 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 next outing, traveling to Wisconsin for a heavyweight matchup against Marquette on Wednesday, March 11. The duel between the Utes and Golden Eagles will begin at 11 a.m. MT and will be broadcast on ESPN+.

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