By Sokphal Tun
Being consistently tough on defense is what the BYU Lacrosse team does best, and this weekend, March 22-23 was no different.
“We played great as a team, but it wasn”t easy,” junior defensemen Jimmy Young said. “It was a battle, and we were just able to pull together to get the job done. We were just the better team that night.”
During the game Lamb told the team to go out there and just play hard.
By playing hard the Cougars made history on March 23 when they brought down Colorado State 17-10; making it the first game the Cougars have ever won on Rams” territory.
Before the Cougars battled the Rams they had to play a tough Colorado team on Friday night, March 22.
Colorado proved they would not go without a fight by closing in during halftime in a close game of 4-3.
During the third and forth quarters the Cougars stepped up and only let the Buffalos score one goal after that, making the final score 10-5.
“We played great, but Colorado played a pretty tough defense. They ran a pretty deliberate ball controlled offense,” head coach, Jason Lamb said, “But we broke them down in the end because we had enough bodies to wear them down.”
The Cougars were able to wear down the Buffalos by stepping up and improving their game.
“We got better ground balls and were able to control the ball better,” said junior attack Jordan Archibald.
Carrying the momentum from Friday night, the Cougars went to battle the No. 1 Rams and were able to grab the upset.
It was the first time the Cougars and Rams met at the Rams” Hughes Stadium, where an estimated spirited and rowdy crowd of 4,000 attended, Lamb said.
“Anytime you play Colorado State, you expect to have a hard game,” Archibald said. “They came out really excited with a lot of energy. They didn”t give us anything, but we were just able to do the little things better.”
The closest the Rams ever got was in the beginning of the third quarter when they scored two quick goals to tie it at 10.
The Cougars were able to pull away after that.
“We were able to take the wind out of their sails by not letting them score anymore,” Archibald said.
The Cougars were able to dominate the second half because everyone did their job, Lamb said.
Even though their biggest game of the year is out of the way. The Cougars will not have time to relax just yet. They face No. 7 Stanford on March 29 at 7 p.m. during parents and alumni weekend.
The Cougars will then get two days to recuperate before taking on No. 2 Sonoma State – a team that defeated the Rams earlier in the season. Both games will be played on South Field.
