Previewing Utah’s 2020 men’s college lacrosse schedule

The Utah Utes are the 14th team in our 2020 men’s college lacrosse schedule preview series and the first independent team. Utah finished 5-10 overall in 2019, their first ever season as an NCAA varsity program. The Utes had quality wins over Air Force and Detroit Mercy, as well as a competitive game against Duke. Utah will also open play at their new on-campus stadium, Ute Field.

Here’s their entire 2020 schedule:

Who’s In?

• Lehigh Mountain Hawks (2/8)
• Jacksonville Dolphins (2/29)
• Hampton Pirates (3/21)
• Boston University Terriers (4/4)
• Marist Red Foxes (4/14)
• Georgetown Hoyas (4/18)

Who’s Out?

• Vermont Catamounts (21-6 L)
• Mercer Bears (13-9 W)
• Hofstra Pride (14-10 L)
• Denver Pioneers (15-6 L)
• Fairfield Stags (10-9 L/OT)
• Hartford Hawks (14-12 L)
• Detroit Mercy Titans (16-10 W)

Circle These Dates

• 2/15 vs. Air Force: Early in 2019, we weren’t sure how Utah would be. Maybe 3 wins at best. And then all of a sudden, the Utes upset Air Force on the road in one of the more surprising results of the season. Only four goals were scored in the second half, all in the final quarter, with Utah scoring the last two.
• 3/7 at Mount St. Mary’s: For the majority of the season, Utah got out to quick starts before letting their opponent come back and keep it tight for the rest of the game. On some occasions, the opponent was able to come back and steal a one or two-goal win. Such is what happened with Mount St. Mary’s. In Year 2, the Utes will look to play more complete 60-minute games and not allow their opponents to stay in it.
• 3/21 vs. Hampton: This is a game you have to circle, even if the matchup isn’t that sexy. This is hopefully the future of lacrosse. The western-most men’s Division I program, and a Pac-12 school nonetheless, against the only HBCU men’s lacrosse program in the country. Wins and losses are always important, but this is a regular season game where the outcome might not matter as much in the end.
• 4/4 at Boston University: If Utah keeps working and getting better, I can see the Utes be at or around the level of where BU is and has been for the last few seasons. The Terriers have gotten quality talent and production from guys such as Cal Dearth, James Burr, and Chris Gray (before he transferred). Utah is on that route, but they just need to find a conference to help them out as well.
• 5/2 at Duke: This is not a midweek matchup like it was last year. But the Utes surprised everyone in the lacrosse community when they took a one-goal lead late in the second quarter. But then Duke got lucky on a very late tally to tie it at halftime and wound up winning by six. When these two teams meet, expect the Blue Devils to use this as a potential tuneup for another deep NCAA Tournament run.