Utah’s Lacrosse season just ended in a 17-18 OT loss…

[PhiladelphiaUte]

…to the #2-seeded Robert Morris University, in the conference tournament championship game, in a HARD fought OT game!

Utah led for most of the game, but a 5-goal 3rd-Qtr gave RMU a 14-13 lead heading into the final quarter of play.  While Utah would outscore RMU 4-2 over the next 14-min, RMU was able to find the back of the net with just 55-sec remaining in the game to tie it up, and ultimately send this game into OT.  Unfortunately for Utah, the Colonials managed to eke out the win.

There will be no “at-large” teams from the ASUN in the national tournament that starts next week, so the best season in program history finally ends at 10-4 (.714).

[ColumbiaUte]

The last possession of regular time was one dimensional. 

[Ute2]

I didn’t love the ‘bleed the clock’ strategy at the end. I would’ve rather seen us use the time to get a quality look. To bleed all that time and sacrifice a quality possession onky to get us back to the face off ‘x’ where we weren’t all that great was a the wrong play imho.

Super bummed! It woulda been so cool to get that birth!

[Ute2]

Also really wishing we’d called a TO when Zyon had scooped the ball but was in a precarious spot down in the corner four out 4 total seconds of overtime possession. 

Maybe you don’t do that with D1 dudes though  because more often then not they’ll get out of it…  

Sigh…..

[PhiladelphiaUte]

It’s also unfortunate that Utah had spend the past month on the cusp of a Top-20 ranking, and as of Monday, we were the top team receiving votes.  And then Denver lost.  And no matter what happens tomorrow, Army or Boston will lose.  So all we had to do to finish in the polls, was beat a team we were leading with only 3-min to play — who for the record, we’d already beaten 3-wks ago by 10-pts.   And then we lose in OT.  Season over.  No chance at a final ranking.

That said, this was our first year playing with a full roster of scholarship athletes.  I’m curious as to what our next year’s team will look like.  Technically, Josh Stout (A) and Casey Wasserman (M) were our only seniors, so that means we should have a lot of talent and experience returning.  But before the Detroit game, Utah honored 9 “seniors”.  So it’s possible that underclassman Goal Keeper Zion Dechesere (junior) may not be be returning in 2023.  If he doesn’t, that’s gonna be a big hit to the program.