O'Grady Nets OT Winner for MLAX at Utah

Box Score (PDF) | Highlights (YouTube)

SALT LAKE CITY – Senior attackman Bobby O'Grady scored the game winner just over one minute into overtime as the Marquette University men's lacrosse team topped Utah, 12-11, at Ute Field on Saturday afternoon.

Junior goalie Lucas Lawas stood tall in net with a career-high 16 saves for the Golden Eagles (4-3), who used a 15-of-18 performance from Stoughton, Wisconsin-native Adam Slager at the faceoff dot to control the game.

"Utah tests you in every aspect of the game," first-year head coach Jake Richard said. "We knew today was going to take a team effort and it was just that. That was an old-school Marquette win, spearheaded by our guys up the middle, Lucas Lawas and Adam Slager. Finding a way to win one-goal games against tough opponents is a great step for our program."

Midfielders Matt Caputo and Will Foster each posted a game-high five points for MU, which earned its first road victory of the season and of Richard's tenure as head coach. Caputo scored a game- and career-best four times and his final three goals each gave MU a lead after halftime. Foster notched three assists, a season best, and provided the helper on O'Grady's sixth career game-winning goal.

Chase Robertson led the Utes (1-6) with a hat trick and an assist, while team points leader Ryan Stines notched two goals and a pair of helpers.

Utah led by as many as three goals on a Will Overly score with just five seconds remaining in the opening quarter. But the Golden Eagles responded with five second quarter scores, including a 4-0 run to put them ahead for the first time at 6-5 on Foster's first goal.

MU needed another three-goal run, capped by a Caputo score with 4:41 remaining, to retake an 11-10 lead.

The Utes tied the game, 11-11, with 25 seconds remaining in regulation and a huge Lawas save with eight seconds left sent the game to extra time.

NOTABLE:

Slager's 15-of-18 performance at the dot is a personal best, as are his eight ground balls.
Caputo notched his second hat trick of the season and seventh of his career.
Foster posted his fourth career game with at least three assists.
MU freshman pole Brady Nicholas made his first career start on close defense alongside Ryan Kilcoyne and Mike Piraino.
The Golden Eagles scored on their only extra-man opportunity of the game, a Caputo goal to give MU an 8-7 lead in the third quarter. MU entered the game leading the nation during man-up opportunities with a .706 success rate (12-of-17).
MU was successful on 20-of-21 clears, its best clear percentage of the season.
Five of Utah's six losses have come by two-or-fewer goals.
The Utes won the previous three meetings between the two by a combined four goals, including narrow one-goal decisions in 2022 (12-11) and last year (9-8). MU's only other regular season trip to Utah was an 18-16 loss to Utah at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
This year marked the first game played between the two at Ute Field and its natural grass surface.

UP NEXT: The Golden Eagles meet Air Force in a neutral site game at Loyola Academy in Wilmette, Illinois on Saturday, March 22.

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