Lacrosse Stays East for Matchup against Duke

Friday, February 6

Durham, N.C.

3:00 PM

University of Utah

Duke

2/5/2026 9:30 AM | Lacrosse

Game Notes (PDF)

Utes take on No. 11 Blue Devils at 3 p.m. MT Friday

SALT LAKE CITY – The University of Utah lacrosse team stays on the East coast for its second game of the season, squaring off with the No. 11-ranked Duke Blue Devils on Friday, Feb. 6. The game is slated to start at 3 p.m. MT at Freeman Field at Koskinen Stadium in Durham, N.C., and will be broadcast on ACC Network with Anish Shroff and Paul Carcaterra on the call.

Opponent: No. 11 Duke (1-0, 0-0 ACC)
Location: Freeman Field at Koskinen Stadium | Durham, N.C.
Date: Friday, Feb. 6
Time: 5 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. MT
Watch: ACC Network
Live Stats: UtahUtes.com

NEW YEAR, SAME UTES
Utah claimed the first win of the 2026 Division I lacrosse calendar with a 16-9 win over Delaware last time out.

Utah fell behind 3-0 early and trailed 4-3 after the first 15 minutes, but outscored the Blue Hens 12-6 in the final three quarters.
Five Utes entered the scoring column and nine tallied at least a point in the season opener, led by Ryan Stines (4 G, 3 A), Luke McNamara (5 G, 1 A) and Cade Faulkner (4 G, 1 A).
Nikko DiPonio paced the defense with six caused turnovers, six ground balls and a goal.
Tyler Kloeckl won 14 of his 23 faceoff tries and Colin Lenskold made nine saves in the win.
Following the win, Stines and DiPoinio were recognized with ASUN weekly awards, being named Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week.
Stines was also selected as the Lax Lab Player of the Week and was one of four finalists for Inside Lacrosse's Player of the Week award.

UTAH LACROSSE: NEED TO KNOWS
Utah is entering its eighth year as a Division I program, holding a 53-42 overall record.

Head coach Andrew McMinn is in his fifth season with the Utes and is the all-time wins leader at Utah with a record of 41-23.
The Utes are in their fifth season in the ASUN conference, coming off four consecutive ASUN regular season titles (2022, 2023, 2024, 2025) and two ASUN Championships in the last three seasons (2023, 2024).
DiPonio was named the 2025 ASUN Defensive Player of the Year and earned All-America Honorable Mention status by USA Lacrosse, USILA and Inside Lacrosse. He was named a USA Lacrosse Preseason All-America Honorable Mention in 2026.
DiPonio was unanimously selected as the Preseason ASUN Defensive Player of the Year while Stines was unanimously voted the league's Preseason Offensive Player of the Year last month.
Utah earned the top spot in the preseason ASUN Coaches Poll, the fifth straight year that Utah has been voted at least tied for No. 1 preseason ranking in the league.
Per LacrosseReference, Utah returns 98% of its production in goal, 96% from the stripe, 81% on defense and 78% on offense.
In five seasons under Coach McMinn, Utah has set more than 70 program records has gone 32-4 against ASUN opponents.

OH CAPTAINS, MY CAPTAINS
Utah will be led by a trio of seniors in 2026 - Ryan Stines, Nikko DiPonio and Will Overly.

Stines, the 2024 ASUN Player of the Year and 2023 ASUN Freshman of the Year, will look to again pace Utah's offensive attack.
He enters the season ranked third in career points (162) and goals (103) and holds the program records for assists (40) and points (67) in a single season.
Stines has led the Utes in points each of the last two seasons and has started all 49 games during his three seasons at Utah.
DiPonio was named the conference's Defensive Player of the Year and was selected as a USILA, Inside Lacrosse and USA Lacrosse All-America honorable mention in 2025, as well as earning All-ASUN First Team honors each of the last two years.
He led the ASUN and ranked 12th nationally with 6.85 ground balls per game, while his 96 total ground balls ranked third in single-season program history.
Overly played in 15 games in the midfield a season ago, tallying 24 points on 14 goals and 10 assists while also recording seven ground balls and a caused turnover - all of which marked career bests.

LAST TIME AGAINST THE BLUE DEVILS
Utah last faced Duke in the first round of the 2024 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship, falling 17-9 to the No. 2 Blue Devils.

Stines scored once and added a pair of helpers while DiPonio led the Utah defense with three caused turnovers and three ground balls.
Kloeckl won nine faceoffs and picked up a team-high four ground balls while Bryce Madden won four faceoffs.
Lenskold spent the majority of the game in the cage, logging five saves.
In his five years as head coach, McMinn Utah has guided Utah to a 4-8 record against top-20-ranked teams under, claiming wins against Jacksonville (twice), Ohio State and Vermont.
A win against the Blue Devils would be Utah's first road win against a ranked opponent since beating No. 19 Ohio State, 19-13, to open the 2025 season.

SCOUTING DELAWARE
Duke opened the 2026 campaign with a 23-8 win over ASUN opponent Bellarmine on Monday.

Head coach John Danowski is in his 20th season at the helm of the Blue Devils, sporting a 241-74 career record.
Duke finished 12-6 overall in 2025, going 2-2 in ACC play, and reached the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Blue Devils are ranked in all three major polls, sitting at No. 11 in both the KANE Division I Media Poll and USILA Coaches Poll and checking in at No. 8 in the USA Lacrosse Media Poll.
Duke is led by the trio of Aidan Maguire, Benn Johnston and Charlie Johnson. All three are consensus preseason All-Americans and All-ACC selections, while Maguire was named the preseason Specialist of the Year by USA Lacorsse.
Max Sloat paced the Blue Devil offense in the season opener, matching career highs in goals (5) and points (6) en route to an ACC Player of the Week nod. Sloat also earned preseason All-ACC honors.
Patrick Jameison will man the cage for the Blue Devils and enters Friday's bout with 26 career wins, a .533 save percentage and a 9.85 career goals against average.

LOOKING AHEAD
Utah is set to open the home portion of its schedule on Valentine's Day. The Utes will take on Denver at noon MT inside Rice-Eccles Stadium and will be broadcast on ESPN+. All home games during the 2026 season will not be ticketed and fans will be permitted to enter free of charge.

STAY CONNECTED
Fans can follow along on social media (X: @UTAHLacrosse | Instagram: @utahlacrosse), and the official mobile app of Utah Athletics, Utah360 -- download here.