Grand Junction, CO- The #4 ranked BYU men's lacrosse team defeated division III rival Colorado College Tigers 11-9 Friday night at Canyon Field in Grand Junction, Colorado. The win marks the third straight victory for the Cougars over Tigers.

The Cougars got out to slow start, allowing the Tigers to score the first three goals of the game. The Tigers dominated possession time in the first quarter and kept constant pressure on the BYU defense. Senior goalie Christian Kikumoto (Cherry Creek, CO), who ended the day with 13 saves, made several spectacular saves to limit the Tigers to three goals.

The Cougars started to fight back toward the end of the first quarter, matching the Tigers intensity and physical play. Senior attackman Josh Austin (Brewster, NY) got the Cougars on the board, beating the Tiger goalkeeper after a nice dodge for his first of 2 goals on the day. The first quarter ended with the Cougars down 3-1.

The Cougars came out roaring in the second quarter as junior attackman Justin Hier (Poway, CA) found freshman attackman Mark Manning (Orem, UT) for a man up goal just 3 minutes into the quarter. Colorado College would answer as midfielder Hunter Combs got inside the Cougar defense and beat Kikumoto on an off-stick hip shot. The goal was Combs second of 4 on the day.

The Cougars would not be discouraged, however; as midfielders Elliot Grow (Salt Lake City, UT) and Steve Naegle (Pleasanton, CA) would each tally a goal in the final minute to tie the game at 4 before halftime. Playing in a flag down situation, Grow beat his defender from behind the goal and beat the goalie to bring the Cougars to within one. On the ensuing man up opportunity Grow found Naegle open above the goal, and Naegle finished with a shot that beat the Tiger goalie low. Grow finished the day with 2 goals and 4 assists to lead the way for the Cougars.

"To be able to fight back and tie the game in the last minute was great," said assistant coach Pete Stevenson. "We had not been executing everywhere on the field, but we were playing hard and matching their intensity, and it paid off in the last minute."

Coming out of halftime the Cougars were able to take their first lead of the day when Grow found Hier on the doorstep for his first goal of the game. Combs answered for the Tigers with another isolation goal to tie the game at 5-5. Grow then got the Cougars back on top just 40 seconds later on a dodge through the middle of the Tiger defense.

After scoring two straight goals the Tigers took their first lead of the second half midway through the third quarter. Again, the Cougars had the answers. Hier beat his man and buried a shot to even the score at 7 each. As time was winding down in the third quarter the Cougars took the lead on the play of the game. With just a few seconds left in the quarter Manning shot a ball from the sideline towards the crease. With just one tick left on the clock freshman midfielder Brian Mathay (Littleton, CO) quick-sticked the ball into the net, sending the Cougar bench into a frenzy and giving the Cougars the lead.

After the goal Colorado College was assessed a conduct foul, giving the Cougars a man-up opportunity to start the fourth quarter. The Cougars quickly cashed in as Grow found Naegle again for the goal just 20 seconds into the quarter. 4 minutes later Grow and Naegle would connect yet again for another man-up goal, giving the Cougars a 3 goal lead. The Cougars never looked back and finished the game strong to earn the 11-9 victory.

"This was a fight from the start," said Grow regarding the game. "They came out flying around the field, and we were able to match their intensity. This was a great team win for us because we had to band together and fight as a team to pull out the win against these guys."

1 2    Next  »

2008-03-30