By Scott Creer
The No. 3 BYU lacrosse team tangles with two rivals this weekend, beginning with an intra-league match-up with Fort Lewis College tonight, April 12 at 7 p.m. on Helaman Fields.
Tomorrow night, April 13 BYU faces Utah in a battle for lacrosse supremacy in the state of Utah.
Both opponents are not ranked in the top 25 of the United States Lacrosse Intercollegiate Associates, but BYU must concentrate on the Fort Lewis game.
Fort Lewis is in BYU”s league, and right now the Cougars sit atop the standings.
“It”s important we do well to keep our number one standing,” head coach Jason Lamb said.
While Fort Lewis is not the most formidable opponent on BYU”s schedule, the Cougars must perform well because of the league implications.
“It”s a very important game and so we should take it seriously,” co-captain Aaron Quiggle said.
The weekend home games come a week after a grueling three-game road trip to the Midwest.
Last week, BYU defeated Illinois and Tennessee on the road. The Cougars” luck ran out when they lost to No. 2 Michigan, 10-5, in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Despite playing three games in three days, Lamb refused to attribute the loss completely to fatigue. He said the Cougars did not play to their ability and the Wolverines capitalized on BYU”s mistakes.
“They kind of kicked us hard when we were down,” Lamb said. “We”ve got to be able to score more than five goals against anybody.”
The loss proved that defending its USLIA national championship will require BYU”s best performance.
“If we don”t perform like we should, we”re going to lose,” Quiggle said.
BYU is looking to bounce back from the Michigan loss with wins against Fort Lewis and Utah. BYU is undefeated in league play so far, and Fort Lewis has lost to the teams BYU has already defeated in the league.
Utah has struggled so far this year and Lamb said he hopes to be able to play more than just his starters in tomorrow”s game.
Both games will be played on Helaman Fields at 7 p.m. Unlike BYU”s other home games so far, these two contests will not be televised.
