Last weekend the Southern Utah University men’s lacrosse team traveled up to Logan to participate in a double-header weekend against the College of Idaho and Utah State University. These two games were SUU’s first in the 2024 season.
College of Idaho
SUU had an electrifying start against the No. 19-ranked College of Idaho when freshman midfielder Elijah Lowe scored two goals after winning back-to-back faceoffs. The Yotes responded soon after by bringing the score 3-2 in Idaho’s favor.
The momentum stayed with the Yotes as they continued to control the ball, leading to more goals. After struggling to move the ball on offense, SUU sophomore attackman Mac Call found his rhythm and scored two goals before the half ended.
At the end of the first half, COI held a 11-4 lead.
“Going into the second half against College of Idaho, I was frustrated with the overall performance of the team solely because I knew we could do better. We weren’t playing our game,” said SUU junior goalie Wade Salmon after the game.
COI came into the second half strong by forcing turnovers and possessing the ball on offense. The Yotes continued to take advantage of defensive miscommunication from SUU.
Senior midfielder Colton Davis electrified the entire SUU roster as he scored his first goal at the collegiate level.
“When I shot around the defender, I was hoping it would be on the goal. I saw it hit the top right corner, and I was so hyped. Definitely a moment I won’t forget,” said Davis.
This energy carried to both sides of the ball, causing a defensive stop. Call scored again off an assist by junior defenseman Josh Merkley. He scored once more to give him four goals in the game.
However, the energy wasn’t enough to bring down COI. The Yotes continued to score, and SUU fell short 23-7.
Utah State University
The Thunderbird defense stopped the Aggies during their first offensive possession, but a turnover by SUU led to USU scoring the first goal of the game. USU quickly gained control as turnovers by SUU allowed the Aggies to remain on the offensive side.
SUU played defense for a majority of the game but kept high energy throughout. The Thunderbirds forced the USU offense to take poor shots that went out of bounds or were saved by Salmon.
Heading into the second half, even though SUU had the defensive momentum to prevent easy goals by USU, they still trailed 12-0.
“We pulled together as a team on Sunday and never showed any signs of quitting. That showed a lot of heart,” said Salmon when asked how the team performed despite the score gap.
After remaining scoreless in the first half, Call found a lane straight to the goal to give SUU the first point of the night. This wasn’t enough to give SUU the offensive momentum they needed, and USU scored three more goals.
Call scored the Thunderbirds’ second goal of the night, but the USU offense remained dominant until the end of the game. The matchup closed at a final score of 22-2.
Salmon had an impressive season opener with a 45% save rate in the first game and 47% in the second while taking over 50 shots from each team.
“Now we know where we need to focus our attention, but at least we have a solid foundation and culture to build from,” said Salmon. “It wasn’t until later that I realized how young of a team we have. We have tons of freshmen, and playing on a bigger stage at a faster pace is intimidating. It showed in our season opener.”
The team’s record is now 0-2 as they head into their next game.
“Losing is always hard, but it’s never final. It is, however, the beginning of a new journey,” said head coach James Simpson.
Preview
SUU will travel to Las Vegas on Saturday, March 9, for their first-ever matchup against the University of Nevada, Reno at 4 p.m MST. The game will be played at the Viper Lacrosse Fields Family Sports Complex.
Author: Caden Houchin
Photographer: Jesus Verdiell
Editor: Anden Garfield
sports@suunews.net
