The BYU Men’s Lacrosse team defeated the Chapman Panthers 15-12 Tuesday afternoon in Greenville, S.C. The Cougars advance to the Final Four where they will face Colorado State University Thursday night.

The meeting between the Cougars and Panthers marked the second this season. BYU defeated Chapman 12-11 in February when they overcame a seven point deficit to tie the game and then win in double overtime.

The Cougars came out Tuesday afternoon with a strong defense, holding Chapman to 2-0 during the first quarter. The Panthers managed to come back during the second, and the score was tied 5-5 going into the half.

The third quarter saw Chapman pull ahead with a 4-2 run, and Chapman scoring twice more in the beginning of the fourth left the score at 12-7 in favor of the Panthers.

The Cougars, however, were able to come back with an 8-0 run in the last 10 minutes of the fourth quarter, securing a win and a final score of 15-12.

“We are extremely proud of how the team played,” said BYU Head Coach Matt Schneck. “This is the first time we’ve ever beat Chapman twice in the same year, and the first time we’ve ever beat them in the tournament. The team showed a lot of character and we’re really pleased with how things turned out.”

BYU advances to the Final Four round of the MCLA National Tournament. The game will be BYU’s third time to face CSU this season.

Schneck addressed the game’s similarity to the 2011 MCLA semi-final game, when BYU had defeated CSU during the regular season, lost to CSU in RMLC playoffs and faced them in the national tournament. The same series of events has unfolded this season for the Cougars and Rams.

“Here we are again this year facing them in the same way,” Schneck said. “I’m sure they are looking forward to this opportunity to play us again as well, as they’re going to be trying to get into the championship game. There’s going to be a tremendous amount of emotion, they’re an excellent team and we anticipate that this will be a very tough game.”

The BYU vs. CSU semi final game will be broadcast live on Fox College Sports and will begin at 7:00 p.m. EDT.

The Brigham Young University Men’s Lacrosse Team is a proud member of the Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA). The Cougars have won four MCLA National Championship Titles – 1997, 2000, 2007 and 2011, and have been honored with more than 100 All-Americans who have proudly worn the Y. For more information, please visit www.byulacrosse.com and follow at www.twitter.com/byulacrosse.

The BYU Men’s Lacrosse team defeated the Virginia Tech Hokies in the first round of the Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association National Tournament on Monday afternoon.

BYU, seeded No. 3 for the tournament, advances to quarterfinals with the win over No. 14 seed Virginia Tech.

The game started out appearing as an even match, with neither team gaining a significant lead and a halftime score of 7-7.

Throughout the second half, however, BYU went on an 8-2 run bringing the score to 15-9 with half of the fourth quarter remaining. The final 19-12 score secured the win for the Cougars.

“Coming into the tournament we were very excited and knew that we would be playing against some great competition,” said BYU Head Coach Matt Schneck. “We were expecting to have a tough game with Virginia Tech; they were one of the highest scoring teams in the country entering into the tournament.

“It seems to be fairly typical for us, and has been throughout the year, that we have close and tight first halves and as we get into the third and fourth quarters, we’ve been able to really hit our stride.”

BYU faces No. 6 seed Chapman after Chapman defeated the No. 11 seed Oregon Ducks Monday evening. The BYU vs. Chapman quarterfinal game will be at 4:30 p.m. EDT.

BYU previously faced Chapman in February of this year, and the Cougars managed to overcome a seven point deficit for a victory in double overtime and a final score of 12-11.

“Obviously we hope that the outcome will be the same as the last time we faced Chapman, but we hope that we can accomplish it in a different way,” Schneck said. “Chapman is a great team … and we think we know what we need to work on and to be prepared for them; we’re fortunate that we saw them one other time during the year. We’re hoping that as we enter the game tomorrow that we’ll be able to get on top of things a little faster.”

A live video feed of all MCLA National Tournament games is provided on mcla.us/video/greenville, or follow live tweets of BYU’s games at twitter.com/byulacrosse.

The Brigham Young University Men’s Lacrosse Team is a proud member of the Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA). The Cougars have won four MCLA National Championship Titles – 1997, 2000, 2007 and 2011, and have been honored with more than 100 All-Americans who have proudly worn the Y. For more information, please visit www.byulacrosse.com and follow at www.twitter.com/byulacrosse.

BYU (15-2, 4-1) secured the No. 1 seed for conference playoffs with a win over the University of Utah (6-7, 2-3) last Saturday in Salt Lake City. The Utes received the No. 4 seed, with Colorado State University and the University of Colorado receiving the No. 2 and 3 seeds, respectively.

BYU will face Utah on Friday at 4 p.m. at Walker Field in Grand Junction less than a week after their regular season rivalry game in which BYU won 14-9.

The winner of BYU vs. Utah will play the winner of CSU vs. CU on Saturday at 5:00 p.m. MDT.

The Brigham Young University Men’s Lacrosse Team is a proud member of the Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA). The Cougars have won four MCLA National Championship Titles – 1997, 2000, 2007 and 2011, and have been honored with more than 100 All-Americans who have proudly worn the Y. For more information, please visit www.byulacrosse.com and follow at www.twitter.com/byulacrosse.

The Cougars received the No. 1 seed for conference playoffs and faced the No. 4 seed University of Utah Utes on Friday for RMLC semi-finals. No. 2 seed Colorado State faced No. 3 seed University of Colorado also on Friday.

The Cougars took an early lead against Utah, opening the second quarter with a goal that brought the score to 5-1. BYU would not score again during the first half, however, and the Utes went on a 3-0 run almost tying the game before halftime.

BYU came out strong in the second half and was ultimately able to shut out the Utes during the fourth quarter, ending the game with a score of 13-7.

CSU won the semi-final game against CU, causing Saturday’s No. 1 BYU vs. No. 2 CSU conference championship to look like an exact rematch of the 2011 conference championship.

The Cougars scored first in Saturday’s matchup, but the Rams came back and never let down. The score going into the half was 11-4 in favor of CSU.

Both teams’ defenses held strong during the third quarter, proving almost to be a scoreless quarter until BYU scored with less than one minute remaining in the third. Though BYU scored twice more during the fourth, it was not enough to close the gap, and CSU came out with the win and a final score of 14-7.

As RMLC Champions, CSU received an automatic bid to the Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association National Tournament in Greenville, S.C. as a No. 2 seed.

BYU received an at-large bid to the tournament with a No. 3 seed, and will be facing No. 14 seed Virginia Tech on May 14 in Greenville.

The Brigham Young University Men’s Lacrosse Team is a proud member of the Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA). The Cougars have won four MCLA National Championship Titles – 1997, 2000, 2007 and 2011, and have been honored with more than 100 All-Americans who have proudly worn the Y. For more information, please visit www.byulacrosse.com and follow at www.twitter.com/byulacrosse.

PROVO, Utah - The No. 2 BYU Men’s Lacrosse team (13-2, 3-1) defeated the Utah State University Aggies (3-5, 1-1) 27-2 Wednesday night in Provo.

BYU took an early lead with senior attackman Corey Gunderson scoring in the first ten seconds of play. The Cougars made three more goals before two minutes of the first quarter had passed.

Freshman face off specialist Joey Mecham attributed to the Cougars’ early lead with one goal and one assist in those beginning minutes.

“It was a good game,” Mecham said. “The coaches worked us pretty hard this week in practice, and it was fun because even when we were pulling ahead we didn’t back down. Everyone still played to the best of their ability.”

And Mecham was not generalizing when he said everyone—the BYU coaching staff allowed every eligible member of the team to play during the game.

Mecham and 15 other members of the BYU offense would contribute to the final 27-2 score.

After the Cougars’ 4-0 run to open the game, USU responded with a goal when sophomore goalie Wes Goar left the crease. The first quarter ended with a score of 9-1.

BYU outscored the Aggies 8-0 during the second quarter to end the first half 17-1. The second half continued along the same pace, with BYU scoring three goals in the third quarter and seven in the fourth, and USU scoring one goal with under five minutes remaining in the game.

The game marked the Cougars’ fourth and Aggies second RMLC conference game. Mecham said the conference win will help BYU come RMLC playoffs in a few weeks.

“Coming off a recent RMLC conference loss to Colorado, we need to win our other conference games in order to get a higher seed for playoffs,” Mecham said.

The Cougars will face MCLA DII opponent Westminster College on Saturday April 21 at 1:00 p.m. in Provo as their last home game of the season.

The Brigham Young University Men’s Lacrosse Team is a proud member of the Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA). The Cougars have won four MCLA National Championship Titles – 1997, 2000, 2007 and 2011, and have been honored with more than 100 All-Americans who have proudly worn the Y. For more information, please visit www.byulacrosse.com and follow at www.twitter.com/byulacrosse.

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April 9 – After taking a tough 11-9  loss to No. 15 University of Colorado on Thursday, BYU lacrosse faced off against conference rival No. 2 Colorado State Saturday night in Highlands Ranch, Colo.

The No. 3 Cougars (12-2) defeated the Rams (11-2) in a physical and close game, 8-6.

BYU coach Matt Schneck said the team knew the game was going to be extremely physical and the players were going to have to step up and play tough.

“[The team] did a great job,” Schneck said. “They really responded well and the overall physical nature of how we played tonight was at a different level of where we’ve been.”

The Cougars jumped ahead in the first period, scoring four unanswered goals by Riley Hales, Pat Matheson and two by Ted Ferrin. CSU finally put a point up at the close of the first period.

The Cougars extended their lead immediately, with Jake Ferrin scoring at the start of the second period. CSU added another goal in the second as well, and BYU led CSU at the half, 5-2.

Into the the third period, Mickell Walker and Jared Houghton scored two more Cougar goals. CSU pushed for a comeback, scoring four unanswered points to bring the game in reach at 7-6.

BYU stopped CSU’s comeback however, shutting them out in the fourth period. BYU goalie Wes Goar had 11 saves on the night.

“Wes Goar had an excellent, excellent game,” Schneck said. “As a matter of fact, he was given the game ball tonight for his outstanding play.”

Goar said the defense’s performance kept BYU in the game

“We came together as a defensive unit and all played really well,” Goar said. “It was awesome beating CSU.”

With under a minute left in the game Houghton scored BYU’s last goal to end the game 8-6.

Andrew Harding, who had an assist, said the team played as a unit and the defense did a great job of getting the offense the ball.

“I think the team, as a whole, played better as a team as I’ve ever seen them play before,” Harding said. “We were passing the ball really quickly and were able to get great looks on the cage. That was our game plan; logistically we wanted to be strong, fast and light on the field, and that was exactly what we did.”

This conference game was an important one for the Cougars in their rankings. Schneck said beating the top-ranked CSU team will help them as they go into the postseason in a few weeks.

The Cougars face off at home with in-state rival Utah State Wednesday at 6 p.m. on North Field. BYU will finish the regular season playing Westminster at home Saturday April 21, before traveling to Salt Lake to play in their Utah rivalry game April 28.

BOULDER, Colo. – The No. 15 University of Colorado Men’s Lacrosse team (6-5, 1-0) defeated No. 3 BYU (11-2, 1-1) Thursday night in Boulder, Colo., with a score of 11-9.

CU scored the first goal of the game, and BYU quickly answered with a goal of its own. CU then went on a 3-0 run to end the first quarter.

BYU responded during the second quarter with its own 3-0 run to tie the game at four. With more than four minutes remaining in the first half, both teams’ defenses held strong and neither team was able to score again before the half.

BYU opened the second half by scoring two quick goals to take the lead. The third quarter saw multiple extra man opportunities on both sides, ending the quarter with CU up 9-7.

The fourth quarter continued along the same pace, with BYU scoring twice to tie the game at nine, but not managing to score again for the remainder of the game. CU scored the final two goals, winning their first conference game of the season with a score of 11-9.

DU Assistant Coach Ben Weis said the tough game was what they had anticipated when preparing to play BYU.

“We knew it was going to be battle until the end,” Weis said. “It was a hard-fought game; we played a great team game, there are some things in between the lines we could clean up, but overall I thought the guys came and played really hard tonight.”

BYU Head Coach Matt Schneck said BYU had also anticipated that CU would be a difficult game.

“When you look at the final score, there weren’t a lot of goals scored tonight,” Schneck said. “Colorado was excited to be out on the field, they were playing hard and fast, and I don’t think we matched their intensity. We had a difficult time with passing and catching, just basic things, so we’ll hope to correct that before the next game.”

BYU will face No. 2 Colorado State University, another conference rival, Saturday night at 7:00 p.m. in Highlands Ranch, Colo.

The Brigham Young University Men’s Lacrosse Team is a proud member of the Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA). The Cougars have won four MCLA National Championship Titles – 1997, 2000, 2007 and 2011, and have been honored with more than 100 All-Americans who have proudly worn the Y. For more information, please visit www.byulacrosse.com and follow at www.twitter.com/byulacrosse.