USU lacrosse one win away from post-season

By Logan Jones

Utah State University's men’s lacrosse club is one conference win away from its first playoff berth in school history.

The team started the 2014 season with a 19-6 loss to Westminster. USU won its next matchup, a road game versus Montana State University, with a score of 9-8.

The streak had begun.

After their narrow one-goal victory in Montana, the Aggies beat the University of Montana the following day by two goals.

The next game, USU won by eight.

The next by 20.

The Aggies won six straight games before losing to the University of Utah on the road, the best start to a season since the team was resurrected in 2011.

“We were looking for a new coach in 2010, and the transition was a little rough,” said junior midfielder Kevin Mann. “A lot of guys quit because it looked like we weren’t going to have a team, and we were barely able to group enough guys together with the new coach.”

The Aggies technically dropped out of the Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association for the 2010-2011 season, though Mann said the team “still played a few games around Utah.”

Despite the club’s past struggles, Mann is confident in the new squad.

“We’re back now,” Mann said, “and we’re winning.”

The team will play Friday at 6 p.m. against non-conference opponent Idaho State, before returning home to Legacy Fields for the last game of the season — a showdown with conference rival Utah Valley University for a spot in the playoffs.

“We are really feeling like this is the year for us,” said freshman midfielder Marshall McGill. “We’re pretty happy with our performance so far this year. We’re confident we can make the playoffs this year.”

Mann said a post-season appearance would legitimize the team and put the memory of the lost 2010 season in the past.

“We haven’t made the playoffs since the team was reinstated,” Mann said. “If we beat UVU we’ll go to the conference playoffs and a chance to play in the national tournament.”

Sophomore attack Tanner Boden said the team takes games “one at a time,” but the thought of beating UVU still crosses his mind.

“It’s the biggest game of the season,” Boden said. “We just have to take care of business.”