Lacrosse routes Boise State 17-3

This article was published on the BYU Daily Universe sports website, sportsuniverse.byu.edu on February 5th, 2011

BYU lacrosse began the season at a sprint as it routed Boise State 17-3 in Provo on Saturday.

The high-level performance from BYU prompted Boise State co-head coach Paul Rocchio to praise the Cougars with a bold prediction.

“These guys are going to win the national title,” Rocchio said.

While it might be too early to predict a national title, the Cougars are certainly off to a great start with such a convincing win.

BYU coach Matt Schneck was happy with the win but understands there’s still more room to grow before they win a national championship and acknowledged Boise State helped identify those points of weakness.

“There’s a lot of good competition out there. We’ve got the right talent and now it’s just a question of putting it all together,” Schneck said. “There’s definitely some things that we need to go work on.”

BYU freshman goalie Wes Goar, who had a stand-out game as a starter, is looking forward to where the team will end up.

“I think we’re just gonna keep getting better every game,” Goar said.

After losing eight seniors following last season, including national player of the year Britt Cone, the Cougars were looking to begin the new season on the right foot. And they did just that.

BYU didn’t waste time in setting the tone of the game, running to a 10-0 lead with five minutes left in the first half and winning nine of 13 first half face-offs.

Junior captain Ted Ferrin led a balanced BYU scoring attack with four assists and four goals. The Cougars spread their scoring among nine different players, showcasing the high level of offensive talent they have this season.

However, the game wasn’t only offense. The BYU goalie corps, Goar and Matt Erickson, only allowed three goals on 14 shots.

The Cougars continue to look forward and will set out on the road soon, where they will learn more about their team.

“Our next set of games is on the road so that’s going to be a good test for us,” said senior captain and two-time all-American Tyler Monteath, who against Boise State played his first game since returning from a mission.

The Cougars’ next games will be away matches in one weekend starting Friday, Feb. 18, against Loyola Marymount University.