BOZEMAN, Mont. - Yotes lacrosse dropped a pari of games to Montana foes Univ. of Montana and Montana State. The Yotes dropped a Friday night game to Montana 9-4 and then a Sunday morning game to Montana State Univ. 12-4.
Friday nights game saw a showdown of the now ranked No. 12 Griz against the Yotes. Ending the first quarter, both teams were tied with one goal a piece. The high powered Griz offense averages twelve goals a game and the Yotes managed to hold them to only nine goals. The strong Giz defense proved to be too much for the Yotes with the Yotes only able to score one goal each quarter. . Griz keeper Joey Cortner had an amazing night and saved 19 shots with an astounding 82.6% save rate.
Wyatt Neu scored a pair of goals while both
Grayson Flatten and
Paul O'Neill added another. Benjamin Milory and
Wyatt Neu both grabbed six groundballs to lead the Yotes picking up loose balls.
Following the loss to Montana, the Yotes traveled to face the defending national champion Montana State Bobcats. The Bobcats sit at number 9 in the nation, powered past four goals in the first frame. The Yotes responded with three goals in the second quarter but the Bobcats matched with three of their own. Continuing their momentum, the Bobcats laced three unanswered goals in the third quarter to put the game out of reach. Only No. 7 St Thomas and No. 10 Utah State held the defending champions to less goals this season.
Alex Ozuna,
Cameron Rudis,
Grayson Flatten, and
Paul O'Neill all scored for the Yotes.
Wyatt Neu added an assist.
Alex Ozuna led the Yotes with four groundballs. The Yotes struggled on the faceoffs, only winning four from the 20 faceoffs in the game.
Despite falling in both games, the Yotes (9-2) are still ranked No. 14 in the nation. With the Montana games behind them, they look to spoil senior night against cross-town rival No. 5 Northwest Nazarene Univ. in the regular season finale. Face off is scheduled for 6:30 pm MT on April 19th at the campus of Northwest Nazarene Univ.
