LaxPower Back-Up Stick

Schedule is out. Very tough, congrats to Holman and co. on putting together a quality first-year schedule. Hoping Hopkins gets added at some point down the line.

Depending on who you ask, there seem to be anywhere between 3-7 winnable games here. Some clearly more feasible than others.

VS VERMONT
VS MERCER
AT HOFSTRA
AT DENVER
AT AIR FORCE
AT FURMAN
VS BELLARMINE
AT DUKE
AT FAIRFIELD
AT UMASS
AT VIRGINIA
VS MOUNT ST. MARY'S
AT HARTFORD
VS CLEVELAND STATE
VS DETROIT MERCY

https://utahutes.com/schedule.aspx?path ... edule=1463

I think Utah will have one of the better inaugural seasons in recent history. Great coaches and a quality mcla program to draw some talent from, as well as a good recruiting class. Excited to see how it plays out.

HopFan16 wrote:Schedule is out. Very tough, congrats to Holman and co. on putting together a quality first-year schedule. Hoping Hopkins gets added at some point down the line.

Depending on who you ask, there seem to be anywhere between 3-7 winnable games here. Some clearly more feasible than others.

VS MARQUETTE
VS VERMONT
VS MERCER
AT HOFSTRA
AT DENVER
AT AIR FORCE
AT FURMAN
VS BELLARMINE
AT DUKE
AT FAIRFIELD
AT UMASS
AT VIRGINIA
VS MOUNT ST. MARY'S
AT HARTFORD
VS CLEVELAND STATE
VS DETROIT MERCY

https://utahutes.com/schedule.aspx?path ... edule=1463

Bold I think are winnable games

Njlaxx11 wrote:

HopFan16 wrote:Schedule is out. Very tough, congrats to Holman and co. on putting together a quality first-year schedule. Hoping Hopkins gets added at some point down the line.

Depending on who you ask, there seem to be anywhere between 3-7 winnable games here. Some clearly more feasible than others.

VS MARQUETTE
VS VERMONT
VS MERCER
AT HOFSTRA
AT DENVER
AT AIR FORCE
AT FURMAN
VS BELLARMINE
AT DUKE
AT FAIRFIELD
AT UMASS
AT VIRGINIA
VS MOUNT ST. MARY'S
AT HARTFORD
VS CLEVELAND STATE
VS DETROIT MERCY

https://utahutes.com/schedule.aspx?path ... edule=1463

Bold I think are winnable games

Apologies—Marquette is a spring scrimmage, not a regular season game. So that's one less likely loss for the Utes. I see this team going 5-10, a respectable start considering this schedule that should only improve over the next few years.

Wow, 3-5 wins, 5-10 for a brand new team! I think they will be lucky to win 2! I don't think having a good club team correlates to any success (see Michigan) and I think the remote location will make it tough to attract top notch talent from the east. Finding a conference will also be a large problem.

genesrfree wrote:Wow, 3-5 wins, 5-10 for a brand new team! I think they will be lucky to win 2! I don't think having a good club team correlates to any success (see Michigan) and I think the remote location will make it tough to attract top notch talent from the east. Finding a conference will also be a large problem.

5 wins isn't that crazy. Marquette won 5 in its first year in 2013. Richmond won 6 in 2014.

I think it's a lot to ask teams like Mercer, Bellarmine, Mt. St. Mary's, Cleveland State, etc. to go out west and be expected to win those games on the road even against a first-year program. The Utes won't win all of those games but they're likely going to win a few of them, and if they steal one or two on the road (@ Furman against a team that has averaged 3.6 wins over the last 5 years seems like a winnable game) then they're already at 3-5 wins. As surprised as I'd be if they win more than 5, I'd be almost as surprised if they win only 2.

I believe their inaugural game will be on ESPNU. Would be great for the sport

Hopefully so. Need to see a little more variety this year.

Bandito wrote:I believe their inaugural game will be on ESPNU. Would be great for the sport

Nothing on ESPN is good for the sport. Good luck Utah, play hard.

The core of the team was above average last year in the MCLA...adding 40 freshman does not make them a D-1 ready team...the Utes will not win a game...

doug7779 wrote:The core of the team was above average last year in the MCLA...adding 40 freshman does not make them a D-1 ready team...the Utes will not win a game...

Utah is gonna struggle for sure in my opinion.

They've already lost a couple of big time commits, including a huge Onondaga JuCo All-American that went out to Utah and did not enjoy it this fall and has already bailed out and left the program and they were a mediocre MCLA team last year. They have also missed on some inter-mountain west kids that should have been slam dunks I've been told that wanted to stay west, but ended up committed to more traditional D1-D2 programs back east. Lot's of hurdles to overcome for sure it would seem. My guess is 2-3 win range and not much more for the next 3-5 years.

Hey, it's a new program. Let them dream a bit. The realities of D-1 lacrosse will show themselves soon enough. As a new program, any victory is a step in the right direction.

I think Utah should have a decent first year. They have a good recruiting class and last year many of their club guys from last year were recruited there to play DI. Also they have some very good transfers that have quite a bit of DI experience and some transferred in last spring and played with the club team as well. They should win the games they are supposed to and maybe even have one or two upsets of a mid-major team like AF, UMass, or Vermont. It's a building process to start a new program and they have a solid foundation with the caliber of coaches and players they have in year one.

People need to relax about Utah. If anyone thinks Utah beats UMass in its first year, you need to start handicapping another sport. Utah has nice coaches and has recruited a good group of players, but UMass is the same team that lost to Yale by just three goals ( 13-10)in the first round of the NCAAs. Good luck keeping this game within 10 goals at Garber.

Henpecked wrote:People need to relax about Utah. If anyone thinks Utah beats UMass in its first year, you need to start handicapping another sport. Utah has nice coaches and has recruited a good group of players, but UMass is the same team that lost to Yale by just three goals ( 13-10)in the first round of the NCAAs. Good luck keeping this game within 10 goals at Garber.

Note: UMass was not bolded as "winnable".

I think the coaching staff will attract good players and 'coach'em up', but asking a lot in the first year beyond playing good ball may be a stretch.

But I remember BU getting one heck of a fast start with that first class of recruits.

My good friend son plays on Utah. The young man from OCC is still on the team, not sure where there's other information coming from otherwise. Last year in the MCLA, they were 16-1, I would not consider that mediocre. At the same time, last season's record will not translate over to D1. In addition, like any other team in any other college sport, I'm sure they missed out on some recruits. They have some former D1 players at key positions on the roster, including the top scorer from last season's Robert Morris team.

With all that said, as many have already mentioned, they have a very challenging schedule. There's one stretch where they play 4 games in a 8 day period. I'm not going to predict W's & L's, who the heck knows. Good young coaching staff that will have them playing hard. Happy the game is expanding out west and wish them the best, Go Utes!.

Ya, team was not a mediocre MCLA team last year. They beat BYU twice last year I think and was beaten by BYU on a last second shot in the qtrs I think -- and BYU is not a chop liver MCLA team either. I think UTAH was a top 8 or so MCLA team, but that is not saying much when it comes to moving to D1. They have a lot of work to do for sure. I know they did take a kid I know that was not that great (relative to D1 talent) and I believe it was more political than talent, which is something you have to do I guess when the situation calls for it. I know one D1 team had to take a kid because his dad donates a ton of money (7 figs) to the school and is on the school board or something.

Regard BU doing relatively good in their first D1 year, I think that was primarily because they used their recruits' first year as a non-D1 season (ie MCLA or scrimmages) so when they went to D1, most of their players had already played in the BU program for one year, and were 1 year older than other typical true freshmans.

Fanlax999 wrote:Ya, team was not a mediocre MCLA team last year. They beat BYU twice last year I think and was beaten by BYU on a last second shot in the qtrs I think -- and BYU is not a chop liver MCLA team either. I think UTAH was a top 8 or so MCLA team, but that is not saying much when it comes to moving to D1. They have a lot of work to do for sure. I know they did take a kid I know that was not that great (relative to D1 talent) and I believe it was more political than talent, which is something you have to do I guess when the situation calls for it. I know one D1 team had to take a kid because his dad donates a ton of money (7 figs) to the school and is on the school board or something.

Regard BU doing relatively good in their first D1 year, I think that was primarily because they used their recruits' first year as a non-D1 season (ie MCLA or scrimmages) so when they went to D1, most of their players had already played in the BU program for one year, and were 1 year older than other typical true freshmans.

If I'm not mistaken, BU announced the addition of men's lax in February 2012.
https://www.insidelacrosse.com/article/ ... pdated/335

They began to recruit their first group of freshmen from the HS class of 2013, not 2012's. Huge class, plus some transfers.

That class played as freshmen in spring of 2014. That's the group that over their 4 years at BU brought them into the Top 20 so rapidly.
They went 2-12 that inaugural year.

But 6-8 in 2015.
They gave Harvard a heck of a scare in '15 in a 9-8 battle on their home field in which they won 33 to 23 in GB's and took 43 to 33 shots. My son was in the net for HU making 18 saves to BU's outstanding tender's 15 saves (Carson-Bannister). They beat Harvard for the first time the next year 9-8, with HU's tender making 7 saves and Carson-Banister making 13 saves. That was the pivotal loss that prevented Harvard from making the NCAA's that year as the Ivy tourney runner-up to Yale.

In 2016 they went 8-7 as juniors and then 12-5 in 2016 as seniors.

They had an outstanding FOGO and goalie in that class, and good players all over the field. Excellent on GB's and a whole bunch of shooters.

My point is simply that, within a few years, a program can vault into real contention. But it does take a great tender and FOGO at the core, IMO.

A better example than BU of immediate D1 success, of course, is Richmond, which won its conference tournament in its first year as a D1 program. The Spiders finished the year with 6 wins. Notably, they lost by only one to #7 Virginia in the very first game. Obviously the situation is not exactly the same (the schedule was easier than Utah's and some of the other teams in the conference—Jacksonville, Furman, High Point, etc.—were also relatively new to D1) but I think it's a bit silly to flatly assert that the Utes won't win a single game. They certainly have the coaching and I would say enough talent to steal a few games from some of the weaker teams on the schedule, especially at home.

HopFan16 wrote:A better example than BU of immediate D1 success, of course, is Richmond, which won its conference tournament in its first year as a D1 program. The Spiders finished the year with 6 wins. Notably, they lost by only one to #7 Virginia in the very first game. Obviously the situation is not exactly the same (the schedule was easier than Utah's and some of the other teams in the conference—Jacksonville, Furman, High Point, etc.—were also relatively new to D1) but I think it's a bit silly to flatly assert that the Utes won't win a single game. They certainly have the coaching and I would say enough talent to steal a few games from some of the weaker teams on the schedule, especially at home.

Agreed; that said, expect them to get stronger with each year under their belts as a full D1 program.