The No. 7 Westminster men’s lacrosse team moved into first place in the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse Conference Division II West after beating Northern Arizona by the score of 9-6 on Saturday at Dumke Field in Salt Lake City.

“We had some guys that really stepped up, that normally don’t get a lot of minutes, that don’t normally have the pressure situations, they really stepped up,” said Westminster associate head coach Dave Long.

Neither team could find their offensive form for the majority of the first quarter. Westminster held the ball in their half the field for most of the first quarter. With 3:40 left in the first, Westminster midfielder Kevin Gee notched the first goal of the game and gave the Griffins a one goal lead.

During the break between quarters, Northern Arizona was penalized for an illegal stick but managed to kill off the 3 minute penalty without allowing Westminster to score. With 9:45 left in the second quarter, Northern Arizona scored to even the score at 1-1. Westminster then went on a 4-0 run to end the second quarter and take a 5-1 lead into halftime.

Northern Arizona scored first in the second half on a man-up goal by attackmen Kyle Carter. Four minutes into the half, the Lumberjacks pulled within two goals but Westminster answered back seven minutes later with two goals to end the third quarter with a 7-3 lead.

Two minutes into the fourth quarter, Westminster scored to up 8-3 but Norther Arizona would score six minutes later to pull within four goals. Westminster answered right back on a goal by midfielder Mike Holt. Northern Arizona would score two more goals before the game ended.

“NAU is a good team, so it makes the victory particularly sweet because they are always good competition and we followed our game plan and I really couldn’t be happier with the guys performance,” said Long.

Westminster (3-3 Overall, 2-0 RMLC) will face Montana State on March 14 at Dumke Field in Salt Lake City. Northern Arizona (3-1 Overall, 1-1 RMLC) will face Utah on Sunday at Dumke Field in Salt Lake City.

Photos courtesy of Shooting Star Photography
Westminster midfielder Weston Morley #20, shoots the ball.

Westminster goalie Dallas McLellan #13, saves a shot.

Westminster midfielder Kevin Gee #34 shoots the ball.