UTAH UTES
Utah Lacrosse Takes Care Of Business In Home Opener
SALT LAKE CITY – Utah lacrosse opened their home season slate Saturday afternoon hosting Marquette at RES while handling their business.
The Utes came out rosy from a particularly physical contest, 18-16, over the Golden Eagles after a lead exchange and few ties. Utah sits at 1-1 in their fledgling season after a loss to open the year against Denver last week.
Utah out-shot Marquette 50-33 with 28 of those shots coming on goal while also winning the ground ball game (35-27). The Utes won 19 of the 35 faceoff attempts throughout the game.
‼️LIGHT THE U‼️
Utes defeat Marquette 18-16 to improve to 1-1 on the season 🥍🥍🥍#GoUtes pic.twitter.com/xwSwCbUFqA
— Utah Lacrosse (@UtahLacrosse) February 11, 2023
Taking Charge
Tyler Bradbury scored six points in Saturday’s contest (2 goals, 4 assists), becoming the all-time leader in career points (110), passing friend and former teammate, Josh Stout who had 105 points during his career from 2019-22.
Jared Andreala was also very productive, scoring a career-high four goals on five shots on goal while adding four ground balls.
10 different Utes scored Saturday afternoon against Marquette, with Andreala (4), Bradbury (2), MJ McMahon, Koa Todd, Josh Rose, and Colby Plotts all contributing two scores each.
Q4 | 0:51 | Utah 18, MU 16
HUGE caused turnover by Joey Boylston who finds Colby Plotts with an open goal to put the Utes up by TWO‼️#GoUtes pic.twitter.com/UHdUktwtut
— Utah Lacrosse (@UtahLacrosse) February 11, 2023
Faceoff specialist and midfielder Cole Brams led the way with nine ground balls and 18 faceoffs won.
Bradbury was not only great scoring, but also produced a career-high tying four faceoffs to his stat line.
On the defensive side, Samuel Cambere finished with a team-high three caused turnovers and freshman goalkeeper Collin Lenskold posted a career-high 10 saves on the day.
Tyler Bradbury On Making Program History
“It’s really a full-team effort,” Bradbury said. “The guys who surround me have been putting the goals in, getting me, my assists and I couldn’t have done it without the guys around me attacking on midfield. It’s a humbling experience. It’s a pretty young program and it’s cool to be up there but can’t focus on those numbers looking forward. We have to keep playing.”
Q2 | 10:02 | Utah 7, MU 7
Another goal for @t_bradbury23 to tie things up here in the second quarter‼️#GoUtes pic.twitter.com/TdC0aGvxEr
— Utah Lacrosse (@UtahLacrosse) February 11, 2023
Thoughts From Head Coach Andrew McMinn
“We really challenged them to increase the effort from game one,” McMinn said. “It really felt like there were some points in that game where we didn’t give everything we had in the possession game. We made that the challenge of the week; upping the ante and winning the ground balls. It certainly felt like they responded very well to it.”
Up Next
Up next the Utes will in-state but not at Rice-Eccle Stadium hosting Vermont. The game is set for Saturday, February 18 with a 1:00 pm MT faceoff at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman. You can either view the game live at Zions or stream it on TV.
Michelle Bodkin is the Utah Utes Insider for KSLsports.com and host of both the Crimson Corner Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and The Saturday Show (Saturday from 10 a.m.–12 p.m.) on The KSL Sports Zone. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram: @BodkinKSLsports
