Last weekend saw all four Utah men’s collegiate teams in action with BYU and Utah traveling to California and Westminster and UVU playing in Las Vegas.
BYU Cougars: A
BYU went into their road trip as favorites in their three games, but they turned a few heads with their convincing wins over LMU and Cal and then dismantling Claremont. LMU added new coaches over the fall who have a strong lacrosse background, but the Cougars were up 15-4 before putting in their reserves who allowed six more goals. Cal came into their game with BYU after losing by one goal to UC Santa Barbara and beating the highly touted Oregon Ducks team 10-2. Many people expected the BYU v. Cal game to be close, but BYU dominated the game and didn’t allow Cal to run.
Utah Utes: B-
You’re probably wondering how the Utes could get a B minus when they lost two games and won one, but the Utes hung with UC Santa Barbara up until the fourth quarter. Then the Utes held one of the most potent teams, Arizona State, in the MCLA to only 12 goals but only scored six goals. The Utes then outplayed a weak UCLA team. We knew Utah was a good team but they could have earned a better grade if they could have hung with ASU a little longer and won the UCSB game.
Westminster Griffins: B-
The Griffins had a big chance to prove they were a top 5 team but failed as they lost to Western Oregon by seven goals. They rebounded nicely though with a 10 goal win over a decent Cal State Fullerton squad. The lost to Western Oregon may hurt the Griffins temporarily but it will set them up nicely for conference play.
UVU Wolverines: C+
A ‘C+’ is a tough grade for a team that won two games on the weekend, but it needs to be said that UVU was the 2010 Division II MCLA Runner-up and they failed to play that way this weekend. After only a four goal win over Cal State Fullerton, they lost by four to a tired Western Oregon team. A 19-8 win over a poor UC Santa Cruz team isn’t enough to boost their grade as they should have won by 10+ which they did.
BYU Photo Courtesy of Haslam Photography
Westminster Photo Courtesy of ShootingStar Photography
