The Utah men’s lacrosse team narrowly escaped defeat by beating Westminster 8-7 at Dumke Field on Wednesday in Salt Lake City.

Utah (5-4, 1-1) held onto bragging rights for another year as they improved to 2-1 in the rivalry. In 2007, Westminster beat the Utes 14-11 at Dumke Field. In 2008, Utah held on to win 9-7 after the Griffins made a second half surge to bring the game within one goal.

Utah was able to hold off another late surge by the Griffins this year and come away with a one goal victory in another exciting chapter of the rivalry.

Utah scored first just three minutes into the first quarter and set the tone early. Five minutes later, Utah put the ball in the back of the net again on a goal by attackmen Ryan Watts.

Westminster answered six minutes later on a goal by attackmen Josh Condas with 1:33 remaining in the first quarter. Neither team was able to find the net in the second quarter as great defensive series and poor offensive plays plauged both teams.

Utah started the second half by winning the opening face-off and controlling the ball until the 11:40 mark when Utah attackmen Pat Guinn scored to give Utah a 4-1 lead. Utah would score two more goals over the next 8 minutes and seemed to control the game. However, Westminster didn’t let the Utes gain any more momentum as Condas scored 26 second later to make the score 5-2 in favor of Utah. Utah scored one more time in the third quarter to go up 6-2.

Six minutes into the fourth quarter, Utah midfielder Cory Merrell was called for a pushing penalty that gave the Griffins an extra man opportunity. After passing the ball around, attackmen Ricky Larkin found Kevin Gee wide open who managed to put it past Utah goalie Andrew Martinelli to bring Westminster within 3 goals. Three minutes later, Watts found the back of the net after spinning through a double team on the crease and beat Westminster goalie Dallas McLellan to extend the Utah lead to four goals.

With 4:36 left in the fourth, Condas scored on an extra man opportunity after Utah was penalized for non-releasable unsportsmanlike conduct. 32 seconds later Ricky Larkin assisted his twin brother Danny Larkin who scored to bring the Griffins within two goals.

Utah was penalized again for cross checking which would allow Gee to score and bring the score to 7-6 in favor of Utah. On the ensuing face-off, the ball went into the Westminster box and was picked up by Ricky Larkin who then passed to Gee who scored to tie the game with 2:44 remaining in the game.

Utah won the face-off and was able to get a good look at the goal with 2:14 remaining, but a shot by midfielder Matt Qualey sailed wide. Utah backed up the shot and continued to work the ball around in a long possession. Qualey once again got the ball on the right side of the box, beat his man, drove to net, and shot a bullet past McLellan shoulders into the back of the net with 1:23 remaining in the game.

“We were just running our offense. It works and that is what we did and we got a goal,” said Qualey. “Dallas is a great goalie so I tried to outsmart him so I shot high. He had saved a bunch of my low shots earlier so I changed it up and it worked.”

Westminster won the next face-off and passed the ball around before Utah was called for a one-minute slashing penalty with 1:05 remaining in the game. Westminster called a timeout to get their game plan in order. With 50 seconds remaining, Ricky Larkin shot the ball but Martinelli saved it and Utah was able to clear the ball past midfield but Westminster was able to double team the ball and get it back. With 20 seconds remaining, Danny Larkin shot but it was blocked by the Utah defense. With time running out, Condas shot from long range and it was also blocked by the Utah defense. Utah was able to get the ground ball and hold it while time expired, sealing a 8-7 win.

“It’s tough to lose a game like that,” said Westminster head coach Mason Goodhand. “I told the guys to not hand their heads because we came from five goals down when any other team would have rolled over and given up.”

Utah was led by Watts who had 2 goals and 2 assists. Guinn had 1 goal and 2 assists in the Utah victory. Martinelli had 11 saves with 7 goals allowed.

Westminster was led by Ricky Larkin who had 6 assists. Condas and Gee had 3 goals each. McLellan had 12 saves with 8 goals allowed.

“I thought we played in spurts,” said Utah head coach Craig Morris. “We had built a lead and we deserved that but we let them back into the game in a three minute span because we made some silly mistakes.”

Utah will face Colorado on Sunday at Juan Diego High School in Draper, Utah. Westminster (9-4, 3-0) will face in-state rival Utah Valley University on April 11th in Orem, Utah.

Photos courtesy of Haslam Photography and Shooting Stars Photography