BYU men’s lacrosse begins season

This article was published in the BYU Daily Universe on February 3rd, 2011.

Coming off an appearance in the quarterfinals in last year’s MCLA national tournament, the No. 6 BYU men’s lacrosse team looks to improve this season with its season opener against Boise State on Saturday.

The team will have to overcome the loss of preseason player of the year Elliot Grow and national player of the year Britt Cone, who coach Matt Schneck said are arguably two of the most talented players to come through the BYU program.

However, the senior captains of this year’s squad seem to be optimistic that while lacking the individual talent from last year, this team will be able to make up for it in overall unity.

Under second-year head coach Schneck (who also played lacrosse at BYU), the team has brought unity to a new level.

“[Schneck’s] been one of the biggest things for team unity,” said Brian Mathay, one of the two senior captains for this year’s team. “We all love him.”

However, the team is definitely not void of talent. Tyler Monteath, the other senior captain and two-time first-team all-American, along with other returning missionaries, will add a wealth of talent to the team this season.

When Monteath left for his mission, he was just coming off the national championship season of 2007 and is looking to get back to that same winning tradition.

BYU hasn’t played Boise State for so long that neither of the senior captains have ever faced them. However, even though they don’t have film on the Broncos, the Cougars are expecting tough competition.

“They’re big boys and they like to play very physically,” Schneck said. “[But] this is really about focusing in on who we are and what we need to be doing.”

Captains Monteath and Mathay said they are also looking forward to the Boise State game to evaluate how the team will fare in its first game of the season.

“We’re excited to just see what the team can do,” Mathay said. “The first game’s always a good chance to see where you are as a team.”

“I’m excited to see what the team’s going to be like when we’re all together,” Monteath said.

New players to watch for this season are Cone and Grow’s replacements, Grayson Dahl and Andrew Harding, as well as freshman Alek Mika and goalie Wes Goar.

The game this weekend will take place on the north university field at 2 p.m. on Saturday.