The University of Utah Men’s lacrosse team dominated all facets of the game on Thursday en route to a 23-3 rout of the Nevada Wolf Pack. Sophomore attackman Aaron Fjeldsted led the Utes with 4 goals and 5 assists.
The Utes began the game with a dominate first quarter, scoring 6 goals while the defense recorded a shutout. Fjeldsted began the scoring for the Utes at the 10:56 mark when he wrapped around from behind and was able to dump the ball over the goalies shoulder. Fellow attackman Josh Stout notched his first goal of the game at the 9:31 mark when attackman Alek Kirschner picked off an outlet pass and pushed the fast-break. Stout caught the pass at the top of the box, took a few steps and bounced it in for the goal. FOS Noah Hill won the ensuing face-off and found Stout on the point who dished to Fjeldsted on the crease who then popped the ball to Kirschner who finished with ease. Kirschner would get another goal on the next possession followed by midfielder Gus Colonna who put the Utes up by 5 with a man-up step down rip from outside midway through the first quarter. Kirschner would complete his hat-trick with 11 seconds left in the quarter when he caught a pass from Fjeldsted on the wing and had time and space to place his shot and buried it in the back of the net.
Utah continued to put the pedal to the metal in the second quarter, reeling off 7 straight goals before Nevada was able to find the back of the net late in the quarter. Fjeldsted started the run and was followed by Jake Stout, Kirschner, back-to-back goals by Josh Stout, Cam Redmond and Ian Elson. Midfielder CJ Andersen would give the Utes a 14-1 lead heading into halftime when he scored his first goal of the game with 32 seconds remaining in the half.
The second half was more of the same with the Utes tallying 6 goals in the third quarter. Fjeldsted kicked off the scoring spree once again followed by back-to-back goals by Elson, Kirschner, Austin Croyle and Elson with a fastball from outside as time expired in the quarter. A pair of goals by Andersen and Deen Anderson and the final tally by Fjeldsted in the fourth quarter secured a 23-3 win for the Utes.
The Ute defense combined for its best performance of the year with great stick checks, caused turnovers, disruptive plays and interceptions. Kendall Jackson, Cayden Beyer, Chad Sundberg, Trevor Schwehr and crew executed their game plan with ease. Goalie Quinton Swinney had 7 saves on the night. Hill finished with a 10 of 21 record from X.
The Utes will scrimmage NCAA D-II foe Westminster on Saturday and will begin RMLC play on Wednesday at Utah State.
Quotes
Head Coach Brian Holman on where the team is at midway through the season:
“I feel great. These games aren’t always the easiest games to play and what I loved about tonight is that we were very professional about our approach. We didn’t get sloppy, we just played the game the right way and the results took care of themselves. Everything is right in front of us, so that’s the best part.”
Sophomore Attackman Aaron Fjeldsted on the game overall:
“We played fast and we played together and really focused on what the coaches have been telling us in practice this week and at the breaks and we were really able to execute those things well tonight.”
Sophomore Attackman Aaron Fjeldsted on the first half of the season:
“We’ve been growing a ton. We’ve come a long way and have a long way to go but we’re really starting to figure out who we are as a team and we’re excited for the second half of the season.”
