The Utah men’s lacrosse team was defeated by the No. 17 Colorado Buffaloes by the score of 10-8 on Sunday at Juan Diego High School in Draper, Utah.

Utah controlled the first face-off and took it to the offensive end of the field where they had a long possession. Utah shot two times before Utah midfielder Mike Calvert scored just a minute and a half into the game. Utah won the following face-off but Colorado defenseman Marty Taffet stole the ball and went the distance, weaving through the Utah defense and scored to tie the game, 1-1. With 10:50 left in the first quarter, Colorado attackmen Joel Packer but the Buffaloes on top after beating Utah goalie Andrew Martenelli. Colorado attackmen James Blackburn scored a few minutes later to give Colorado a two goal lead. Utah wouldn’t let the Buffaloes get too far ahead as Calvert scored again with 7:29 left in the first quarter. Blackburn scored again to make the score 4-2 in favor of Colorado but Utah answered back on a goal by attackmen Ryan Watts to end the quarter with the score of 4-3.

Calvert brought the Utes within one goal again just a minute into the second quarter. Two minutes later Colorado midfielder Mike Emerson, a Park City, Utah native, scored to once again give the Buffaloes a two goal lead. With six minutes left in the first half, Colorado attackmen Darren Hulick scored and with 10 seconds left in the second quarter, Blackburn scored again to give Colorado a 7-4 lead at halftime.

Colorado carried their momentum from the first half into the second half. On the opening face-off, midfielder Aaron Gray won the opening face-off took it towards the goal, beat the entire Utah defense and scored just 10 seconds into the second half. Five minutes later, Utah attackmen Pat Guinn scored for the Utes to bring the score to 8-5 for Colorado. Another five minutes passed and Guinn once again scored on a man-up opportunity after Colorado was penalized for pushing to bring the Utes within two goals.

In the fourth quarter, Martenelli made a save and was trying to clear the ball but Packer had his stick in the air and knocked down the ball and scooped it up, leaving him one-on-one with Martenelli. Packer faked high and shot it low past Martenelli to give Colorado a 9-6 lead with 13:31 remaining in the game. Utah fought back though and goals by midfielders Jon Owens and Cory Merrell brought the Utes within one goal with 4:26 remaining in the game. The intensity picked up as an upset was looming but with 1:37 remaining, Blackburn notched his fourth goal of the game to give the Buffaloes a two goal lead which was good enough to beat the Utes, 10-8.

“Today I was proud of my lacrosse team,” Utah head coach Craig Morris said. “We came out and played real hard and executed throughout the game. We were a pipe or a shot away from being right there against a good lacrosse team.”

Utah (5-5, 1-2) will play No. 2 Chapman on Wednesday at Juan Diego High School in Draper, Utah at 7:30 pm. Colorado (8-4, 3-0) is now in first place in the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse Conference and will host No. 10 Lindenwood on Thursday.

Photos courtesy of Haslam Photography