Previewing Utah’s 2019 men’s college lacrosse schedule

The Utah Utes are the second team in our 2019 schedule preview series and the first independent. This is Utah’s first season as an NCAA Division I program and has garnered a ton of publicity since announcing their intention to field a team at the varsity level. The Utes went 16-1 in their final MCLA season, which came to an end in a one-goal loss to archrival BYU in the MCLA quarterfinals.

Here’s their entire 2019 schedule:

Let’s hope the Utes sign up for frequent flier miles because oh boy will they get some nice rewards if they do.

To put that into context, the distance from Jupiter, Florida to Ocean Creek, Washington is 2,802 miles. Based on their travels this year, the team would be making this trip over eight times, including four round-trips.

Who’s In?

• Literally everybody.

Who’s Out?

• Literally nobody.

Average Winning Percentage From 2018 Teams

• Overall: .469

Circle These Dates

• 2/1 (vs. Vermont): The first ever game for the Utes and the first game of the 2019 season. That’s a pretty notable date to have circled down anyways, whether Utah was playing or not. It will also be a good feel for how Utah is compared to a pretty good Division I team.
• 2/23 (at Denver): This will be Utah’s shortest trip of the season, all of nearly 500 miles. It’s nice to have some more western participation in the sport and here’s hoping that this starts more Division I lacrosse programs out west. They’ll also play Air Force the next day.
• 3/12 (at Duke): This begins the second four-game road stretch for the Utes and the first of three games in a week. This will probably be the toughest of them all with the reigning national runner-ups. It will be great experience for some of these guys to play at Koskinen and take on a powerhouse of a team such as the Blue Devils. It’s also an example of what Brian Holman might want his program to look like.
• 3/17 (at UMass): The road swing continues in Amherst against the Minutemen, the alma mater of Will Manny. It’ll be interesting to see what kind of activities the team will do while on campus. Manny might be able to show the team around the lacrosse facilities and have coach Greg Cannella talk to them as well.
• 3/31 (at Virginia): Another assistant coach alma mater, this time it’s Adam Ghitelman’s turn. UVA has changed since he graduated with Lars Tiffany as head coach. But don’t rule out a return from Dom Starsia whatsoever. The game itself will probably be a lot different than what the Utes have played against in terms of tempo.
• 4/20 (vs. Cleveland State): A new program hosting a third year program. It’ll be great experience for the Utes and for Dylan Sheridan’s squad to play against each other and get a feel for each other. The Vikings might have an edge now since they’ve already played two seasons, but Utah hopes to surprise plenty of people this year.

For other schedules and team rosters, check out our Men’s Division I matrix.