The battle for Salt Lake City bragging rights will be at stake as the No. 25 Utah (2-3) lacrosse team faces the Westminster Griffins (4-2) who are currently ranked No. 1 in Division-II.
Utah has faced tough opponents including No. 8 Arizona State, No. 12 Florida State, No. 16 Georgia and then No. 23 Michigan State. Westminster has played a variety of opponents including powerhouses No. 11 (Division-I) Simon Fraser and No. 11 (Division-II) Southwestern.
Utah and Westminster met last fall, and Utah walked away with a 14-6 win. Most recently, Utah beat Westminster 12-11 in a pre-season scrimmage in another intense game.
Utah will be led by junior attackman Matt Qualey who leads the Utes with an average of 5 points per game. Qualey has notched 9 goals and 16 assists this season.
Westminster will be led by sophomore attackman Roman Schoewe, who is averaging 4.5 points per game. Schoewe has 22 goals and 5 assists.
Many of the players from both teams played together in high school.
The inner-city rivals will play at Juan Diego High School in Draper on Thursday. The face-off will be at 7 p.m.
Originally printed in The Daily Utah Chronicle on March 13, 2008.