An impressive second half for the University of Colorado men’s lacrosse team gave the Buffaloes an important 26-14 Rocky Mountain Lacrosse Conference victory against Utah Saturday night at Folsom Field.
Senior attacker Riley Seidel led the Buffaloes with seven goals, four of them coming in the third period. But despite being ranked No. 2 in the Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association, the Buffs (11-2, 3-0) only lead Utah (4-10, 0-3) by 2 at halftime.
“There’s no team that we’re ever going to play where they’re just going to let you beat them,” said Colorado head coach John Galvin. “Utah is a good team and they’re going to fight just as hard as anybody else.”
Colorado emerged to dominate the second half, outscoring the Utes 7-1 in the third quarter and 5-2 in the fourth.
“The enthusiasm wasn’t quite there for a little bit,” Galvin said. “I think it was our overall mentality that changed in the third quarter.”
The Folsom crowd added energy to the game. At one point in the second half, the referees told a group of Colorado students to move away from the Utah bench after some students were heckling some of the players.
The loudest roar came when a Utah player committed a hard foul against Seidel in the second half, knocking him on the ground. The Colorado attacker popped back up onto his feet and motioned the crowd to get even louder with his hands.
The Buffs next take on rivals Colorado State in their final regular season game this Saturday at Sports Authority Field at Mile High.
“CSU is always a big game, and hopefully we can go do something we haven’t done in a long time,” Galvin said.
The Buffs have lost to the Rams eight straight times, including in the national championship game last year.
Colorado will then first play in its conference tournament, and later in the national tournament, which starts May 12.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Jared Funk-Breay at Jared.Funkbreay@colorado.edu