BYU lacrosse hands No. 1 Utah Valley 1st loss to clinch 13th conference title

HERRIMAN — Hutton Murphy spun the ball in his stick from behind the net, took one look at the edge of the crease, and rounded the turn.

With one flick of his lacrosse stick, the freshman from Holladay flicked a high shot with his right hand inside the near post before his momentum took him to the turf.

Bang. Goal. BYU leads. The crowd erupted.

Murphy’s goal with 58 seconds left helped BYU men’s lacrosse avenge its only loss of the season, handing No. 1-ranked and previously undefeated Utah Valley an 11-10 loss in the championship game of the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse Conference tournament Saturday afternoon at Zions Bank Stadium.

“The energy of this place was insane,” Murphy said after the game. “The fans were going back and forth, and we were going back and forth with their guys.

“I saw time got low, about 20 seconds left on the shot clock, and it was time to go,” he added. “I played attack my whole life, I had him behind X where I knew he was uncomfortable, and hit my signature move right up the hatch — buried it. I knew I had to make it happen.”

The goal helped clinch BYU’s 13th conference title, and sets up the defending MCLA national championships for a likely No. 1 seed at the MCLA national tournament May 4-9 at River City Sportsplex near Richmond, Virginia.

But before Murphy’s game-winner, No. 2 BYU had to scratch and claw against a top-ranked team that led for almost the entire game several weeks after handing the Cougars their only loss of the season.

 

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BYU claws back to win RMLC championship

BYU’s 14-7 win over Colorado State in Friday night’s conference tournament semifinals didn’t just clinch a spot in the tournament championship.

It also gave the Cougars a chance to avenge their only loss of the season.

That came back on April 3, when Utah Valley ran roughshod over BYU in the fourth quarter, scoring five goals to turn a 12-9 duel into a 17-11 win in divisional play.

The win propelled the Wolverines to the top of the MCLA, the top division of club lacrosse outside the NCAA. Utah Valley received every first-place vote in the weekly coaches’ poll a week later, with BYU coming in 25 points behind at No. 2 nationally.

“I think we learned about Utah Valley and what they were capable of doing that game. They’re a very, very good team,” BYU coach Matt Schneck recalled of that game. “It was an electric evening and crowd, with an ether in the air. And the reality is, it wasn’t our night.

“Utah Valley took advantage of mistakes that we made, and they came out on top in that game. But I think we learned from that, we learned what we wanted to do differently coming into this game, and we knew it always comes down to execution.”

The rematch didn’t start with BYU’s upset in mind. The Wolverines (16-1) jumped out to a 3-0 lead, and Boo Rehrer’s left-handed flush with 10:11 to play stretched the lead to 5-3.

But the Cougars didn’t go away. Led by 100-point scorer Mason Quick, the lower-seeded side clawed back to tie the game at 5-5 at halftime, then again midway through the third quarter.

“This is the kind of stuff that we work on all season long,” Schneck said. “There is not a week that goes by that we aren’t working on four-minutes left, three-minutes left, or different situations. We’re preparing for this type of thing … After that, it’s athletes being athletes — and they’re making great stuff happen.”

Gage Randolph gave Utah Valley a 10-8 advantage off an assist from Rehrer early in the fourth.

But again, BYU wasn’t done.

Dylan Johnson tied the game at 10-all with 2:03 left, and the Cougars pushed for one final goal to put them over the top. But first, they had to win a faceoff.

“We’ve faced a ton of adversity this season, and we just lost our best offensive player in Gavin Taylor,” Murphy said. “We were out another leftie, one of our best poles, and the guys just rallied together. The message was, who is going to step up? Whose moment was it today?

“We had a bunch of guys step up,” he added. “Everyone made it happen, and everyone put something in to make this win achievable.”

On to MCLA nationals

Saturday’s match wasn’t the end of the season, for either squad.

If anything, it just raises the stakes for a potential rubber match. The two-game split likely pushes BYU to No. 1 in the bracket for the MCLA national tournament, with Utah Valley the odd’s-on favorite for the No. 2 seed — or at the very least, a No. 3 seed.

That would put the two on opposite ends of the bracket, with a potential winner-take-all third game between the two crosstown rivals at the end of the road in Richmond.

But first, you’ve got to get there. Both teams are in a strong spot for high seeds — and both will be heavy contenders for the MCLA title. BYU has won six national titles, most recently in 2024 over a then-14th seeded Utah Valley squad looking for its first.

“That’s what we’re really fighting for,” Murphy said. “That’s why we play, starting from the first day of school until three weeks after school goes. We’re fighting for the national championship.”

And if it happens to come down to another University Parkway collision?

“There’s a great chance,” a smiling Murphy said. “We’re both great squads, and we love playing these guys.”