BYU 9, Colorado 4
Salt Lake City, Utah (May 2, 2008) – No. 4 Brigham Young University (13-4) advanced to the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse Conference Division I finals after beating No. 19 Colorado by a final score of 9-4. The 4th seeded Colorado ends their season with a 3 – 7 record.
Colorado goalie Kevin Moriarty played well the entire game and showed why he was chosen as the RMLC 1st Team Goalie. Moriarty and the Colorado defense managed to hold BYU to less than 10 goals, a feat which had only been done two other times this season
In the first few minutes of the game, Colorado failed to clear and the net was wide open. Moriarty flew in from the left side of the goal and dove feet first to block a shot by BYU attackmen Justin Hier.
Scoring began at the 9:05 mark on a goal by BYU midfielder Steve Naegle. The goal came from midfielder Elliot Grow who started to go to the right side, but then redirected the flow of play to the left side as Naegle streaked up from behind the crease. Grow passed a rocket to Naegle who planted and shot the ball past Moriarty and into the top right corner.
Colorado answered a minute later as attackmen Tyler Snyder scored to tie the game at 1.
BYU continued to pressure and ride on Colorado clears. With 6:06 left in the first quarter, BYU rode hard and Colorado turned the ball over right in front of their net. BYU attackmen, Mark Manning, put the ball right into the back of the net.
The Cougars held Colorado scoreless in the second quarter and managed to score three goals to take a 5-1 lead into halftime.
Defense dominated the third quarter as neither team had scored until BYU scored with 0:00.3 seconds left in the quarter. Hier collected the ball at the top of the box and threw a cross-crease pass to attackmen, Josh Austin, who bounced it right past an outstretched Moriarty.
BYU continued to hold the ball with long possessions as they cruised into the final game.
“I was really impressed with Colorado,” said BYU head coach Jason Lamb. “Having said that, I don’t think we played well. In my opinion, the way we played today is not a win tomorrow, no matter who we face.”
BYU will play the winner Colorado State on Saturday night for the RMLC Division 1 title. The CSU Rams beat Utah in the second RMLC Division 1 semifinal. Face off will be at 5 pm.
Colorado State 14, Utah 6
Draper, Utah (May 2, 2008) – The No. 3 seeded Colorado State Rams (11-5) advanced to the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse Conference finals after beating the No. 2 seeded Utah Utes (7-9) on Friday night at Juan Diego High School.
The last time these two teams met, Utah prevailed in a battle of endurance as the game finally ended after Utah netted the game-winning goal in the fifth period of overtime. Colorado State didn’t forget that game as they went on to beat Utah 14-6.
Utah opened scoring as midfielder Krispen Blackett scored with 13:25 left in the first quarter. Colorado State then scored three unanswered goals to end the first quarter with a score of 3-1 in favor of the Rams.
Just 6 seconds into the second quarter, Utah scored on a rocket shot by midfielder Pat McIntyre. Utah scored again on a fast break goal from midfielder, Adam Grow. Grow came onto the field and received a pass from a defender on the clear. Grow continued to push the ball upfield, burned his defender, and bounced it right past Colorado State goalie Garrett Fitzgerald.
But Colorado State responded again with three unanswered goals. Midfielder Luke Cantwell notched a goal at the 10:41 mark followed by two goals by attackmen Cooper Kehoe.
Utah scored a goal with 7:20 remaining in the half on a rocket shot from midfielder, Cory Merrell.
Colorado State added a goal with a minute remaining in the half to take a 7-4 lead into halftime.
The Rams came out of the half with more intensity than Utah and scored three unanswered goals to put the game on ice. Utah attackmen, Matt Qualey scored his first goal of the game halfway through the third quarter. Colorado State continued to score and only allowed Utah one goal in the fourth quarter.
CSU was led by Kehoe who had four goals. Midfielder Joel Tromburg also had four goals for the Rams
“I am pleased with the game tonight,” said Colorado State head coach, Flip Naumburg. “We never let up.”
Colorado State will get another chance at rival BYU in the RMLC Division I Championship game on Saturday evening at Westminster College. The Rams fell in the regular season at home to the Cougars 14-6. Face off will be at 5 pm.
Originally posted on CollegeLAX.us on May 3, 2008.
