By Ashley Graf
The No. 2-ranked BYU men?s lacrosse team survived a scare from No. 5 University of Minnesota-Duluth Thursday night, (March 15, 2007) as they defeated the Bulldogs by a narrow 9-8 margin.
The Cougars struck quickly, with Justin Hier scoring just two minutes into the game. Elliot Grow then assisted Ted Ferrin and Mark Davis scored on a pass from Hier before the end of the first quarter, bringing BYU?s lead to 3-0.
In the second quarter, Tyler Monteath connected with Ferrin to tally another for the Cougars. UMD answered within a minute as captain Pete Nelson put his team on the scoreboard.
Hier counted his second unassisted goal with five minutes left in the half to widen BYU?s lead to four. Devin Theurer also added one for the Cougars, and Bulldog Kyle Klossner responded with two goals of his own to bring the halftime score to 6-3.
UMD came out strong after the half and scored two unanswered goals to cut BYU?s lead to one. Davis stopped the Bulldog?s run with his second goal of the game halfway through the third quarter, but UMD scored a mere 20 seconds later and the quarter ended with the Cougars hanging on to a 7-6 lead.
The teams held each other scoreless in the fourth quarter until Davis completed his hat trick with six minutes left in the game. They then battled back and forth, with UMD?s Daniel Pitzl, BYU?s Steve Nagely, and UMD?s Nate Goertz scoring in quick succession.
It came down to the final seconds, but the Cougars held on to secure their 9-8 victory. The University of Illinois lacrosse team was on hand at the game and will challenge BYU Friday, March 16, 2007, at 7 p.m. on South Field.
