Ute Lacrosse ready for season to begin

[onpoint]

Having posted a 13-1 record last fall, the U lacrosse team has big expectations for its upcoming spring schedule.

Five top 10 United States Lacrosse Intercollegiate Associates teams from 2004 are on the docket for the Utes, who finished 2004 ranked in the top 25 and beat then No. 1 Colorado State in 2003.

The team will travel to Tempe, Ariz., and face off against Arizona State to begin its Spring 2005 campaign on Feb. 18.

Ute Lacrosse ready for season to begin

[Danny Hogan]

14 fall ball games? holy bleep

[the lax]

One way to improve for sure.

[TrainerDan]

I'm wondering who they played in the fall to go 13-1?

[byualum]

Alta and Box Elder

[If At First...]

That includes shorter tournament games. I believe they played in 3 tournaments, at 3-4 games a pop. Full games were against BYU (the one loss), Utah State, UVSC and Texas in Vegas. They played the usual B-teams in the tournaments in Logan, UT and Boise, ID, and then they went 4-0 in Vegas with victories over Texas (by 13 goals (although I think Texas might have been resting starters in the 2nd half), USC, Cal and UNLV.

Should be a good season for the Utes, they lost a scorer in captain Robbie Bell but gained another crew of talented freshman. Their gifted and experienced attack unit (Tom Fernandez 41g 21a, Stefan Turkula 35g 14a, Rich Qualey 20g 26a) will definetely open eyes this year.

The Utes' 6 losses in 2004 included 5 to top 6 teams, (CSUx2, BYU, CU, Sonoma) and one 9-8 loss to a suprising Arizona State team. The Utes hope to avenge that loss to ASU on February 18th in Tempe, AZ, when the Utes travel to meet the Sun Devils for the season opener.

The Utes are always under the radar in the RMLC and USLIA standing next to BYU, CSU and CU, but should improve upon their 2004 performance with the oppurtunity to play #11 Cal Poly and #13 Texas A&M this season.

[grinderpete]

I like that the article mentions first how utah beat csu 2 years ago. That was funny

[onpoint]

You gotta hold on to those precious moments in life, I guess.

[TrainerDan]

Alex you were with CSU 2 years ago when they lost to Utah. You guys played so well against us the night before, how on earth did you all lose that game? I'm guessing a lot of regulars sat that one out...

[onpoint]

Not exactly. If you remember, we were without Coach Naumburg and played a game against UVSC earlier in the day after our night game against BYU. Most of us were pretty beat from the emotional game the night before (7-6 win) and I don't think a lot of people on the team took the Utes very seriously. They were well-coached and played disciplined, taking smart shots for the most part. Plus, we shot terribly and Hale had something like 23 saves, a lot of which were stick side high. We were down by two with like 3 minutes left and had a chance, but no one was able to step up. The thing about that 2003 team was that a lot of our games were like that, close and low scoring. Take a look at some of the scores from that year. That game remains one of my most vivid memories of this sport.

[TrainerDan]

Thanks for the insight. I just remeber being on the sidelines at the game against and just enjoying a good game. I was shocked when I heard you all lost to Utah.

[the lax]

At the end of the year, national champs. Can't imagine many Rams really care that they lost to utah.

[mcneito]

At the end of the year, national champs. Can't imagine many Rams really care that they lost to utah.

Any undefeated season is that much sweeter when it is unblemished. A hell of an accomplishment for any program to beat CSU, but being the only loss on a squad that goes all the way makes it stand out even more. I was at that game and Cole Hale, the keeper, played the game of his life.

[WyoPoke]

Any undefeated season is that much sweeter when it is unblemished.

Does that statement come from the department of redundancy department?

[the lax]

It is comes from the department of being totally incorrect. How can an unblemished season be that much sweeter if it is an undefeated season?