SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, May 5, 2024 (Gephardt Daily) — Ryan Stines scored five goals Sunday to lead the University of Utah lacrosse team to its second consecutive Atlantic Sun Conference championship with a 16-13 victory over Jacksonville.
The victory also earned the Utes a trip to the 2024 NCAA Division I Men’s Lacrosse Championships. Utah will take on second-seed Duke (12-5) at 12:30 p.m. MDT Saturday in Durham, North Carolina.
Utah improved to 12-4 overall and 8-1 in ASUN play following its two tournament wins, tying the school record for wins in a season.
Utah defeated Cleveland State 21-5 on Friday to advance to the championship game the Air Force Academy’s Falcon Stadium.
Stines, a sophomore from Cary, North Carolina, was named tournament MVP after his five-goal performance against the Dolphins (13-5, 8-1). The attackman and ASUN Player of the Year has scored 47 goals this season, ranking second all-time at Utah, and needs just three more to break the school record (49) set by Jordan Hyde in 2023.
Stines also has 63 total points this season, breaking the single-season record set by fellow attackman Tyler Bradbury (62) in 2022. He leads the ASUN and ranks ninth nationally in goals per game (2.94) and ranks second in the conference in points per game (four).
Bradbury, defensemen Joey Boylston and Nikko DiPonio, and goalkeeper Colin Lenskold joined Stiles on the ASUN All-Tournament Team.
The Utes led by seven early in the fourth quarter before the Dolphins scored five unanswered goals to trim the lead to 15-13 with four minutes to play.
Lenskold and the Utah defense held Jacksonville scoreless the rest of the way, and midfielder Jared Andreala scored the Utes’ 16th goal with 18 seconds remaining to seal the victory.
Lenskold, a sophomore from Wilton, Connecticut, finished the game with 16 saves — tying for the third-most in school history. He ranks in the top 25 nationally in goals allowed per game (10.54) and save percentage (.537).
Utah had 40 shots — including 27 on goal — along with 34 ground balls, 14 faceoff wins and 10 caused turnovers in the championhsip game.
Bradbury, a senior from Oak Park, California, finished with four points on three goals and an assist, with Andreala, a senior from Raleigh, North Carolina, also completing a hat trick.
Faceoff specialist Tyler Kloecki, a sophomore from Lakeville, Minnesota, led the Utes in ground balls with eight to go along with his 14 faceoff wins.
DiPonio, a sophomore form Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, chipped in with a career-high two assists, four ground balls and three caused turnovers. He now has 32 caused turnovers, passing the single-season school record set in the semifinal round against Cleveland State by Boylston, a senior from Charleston, South Carolina.
DiPonio ranks eighth nationally in caused turnovers per game with 2.06, and Boylston is 11th at 1.88.
Utah ranks third in the nation in scoring margin (+4.94) and scoring offense (15.31), while ranking in the top 10 in assists (8.88), caused turnovers (10) and points (24.19) per game.
Now in its third season in the ASUN, Utah has won at least a share of the regular-season title each year. The Utes won their first ASUN tournament title in 2023 to earn their first NCAA championship berth.
Utah is in its sixth season as Division I lacrosse program.
