No. 23 Utah thrashes Montana
By Tim Haslam
Photo by Haslam Photography
The University of Utah men’s lacrosse team faced off against Montana on Friday at the Spence Eccles Field House in Salt Lake City. No. 23 Utah (4-1) won by a 17 goal margin en route to a 25-8 final score.
“We’re finally starting to gel,” said Utah Head Coach Craig Morris. “Our guys are finally getting to see the entire scheme of things and it’s fun to watch.”
Utah scored within the first minute of the game off a man-up play after a Montana player got confused with the football lines painted on the field and was caught offsides. Two minutes later, Montana midfielder, Henry Bishop scored for the Grizzlies tying the score at 1-1. Utah then went on a 8 goal run before Montana scored with 50 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
Montana scored first in the second quarter on a goal by Bishop. However, the Utes answered back just 13 second later on a rip by Junior attackman Mark Manning. Utah scored four and half minutes later on a short handed goal by Senior Mike Calvert. The Utes took a 14-6 lead into halftime. 
Utah scored 7 goals in the third quarter and didn’t allow the Grizzlies any goals. The best goal in quarter came when Freshman Patrick Hagan scooped up the ball off of a face-off and drove towards the goal, drawing a Montana defender. Hagan dished to Manning who then found attackman Zac Harris coming from behind who dumped the ball over the outstretched Montana goalie.
Utah scored 4 goals while allowing 2 in the fourth quarter while capturing their fourth win of the season.
The Utes were led by Manning who had a total of 8 points from 3 goals and 5 assists. Freshman attackman Tyler Kunz had 7 points from 5 goals and 2 assists. Harris had 5 goals while Calvert ended the night with 3 goals and 2 assists.
“Mark [Manning] is a great player for us,” said Morris. “The game was able to come to him today because some of the other guys were stepping in and making plays. He’s making the guys around him better which is really a huge thing for us.”
The Ute defense only allowed 8 goals and were led by Freshman goalie Alex Watanawekin who played for most of the game and had 4 saves. Backup goalie, Freshman Bill McEnerney, had 2 saves.
“Our defense played well in settled situations.” said Morris. “I would have liked to seen us play a little cleaner in unsettled situations. I was really impressed with our ability to get the ball from the defensive to the offensive end.”
The Utes will play in-state rival Westminster College on Wednesday at Westminster. The game will get underway at 4 pm.
Tim Haslam is a Journalism hobbyist who enjoys fly-fishing, watching Real Salt Lake and coaching and covering lacrosse. You can find more information about Tim at www.timhaslam.com
