Lacrosse Looks to Extend Win Steak against Virginia on Saturday

Saturday, March 21

Charlottesville, Va.

9:00 AM

University of Utah

Virginia

Lacrosse Looks to Extend Win Steak against Virginia on Saturday

3/19/2026 9:35 AM | Lacrosse

Game Notes (PDF)Record Book (PDF)

Utah travels east to face the Virginia Cavaliers at 9 a.m. MT on March 21

SALT LAKE CITY – Riding a four-game win streak in which they have outscored opponents 82-29, Utah Lacrosse hits the road in search of its first-ever win against the Virginia Cavaliers on Saturday, March 21. The game is set to start at 9 a.m. MT at Scott Stadium in Charlottesville and will be streamed live on ACCNX.

Opponent: Virginia (3-4, 0-0 ACC)
Location: Scott Stadium | Charlottesville, Va.
Date: Saturday, March 21
Time: 11 a.m. ET / 9 a.m. MT
Watch: ACC Network Extra
Live Stats: UtahUtes.com

RECORDS REWRITTEN
Utah's 32-4 win over Iona last month marked the most dominant game in program history.

Luke McNamara scored 10 goals – the first Ute to ever score in double-digits in a game and the first NCAA men's lacrosse player to do so since 2020 – and added an assist for 11 points, the second most in a game in program history.
Utah's 32 goals tied for the fourth most in a single game in NCAA Division I history and shattered the previous team record of 26.
The Utes became the first team since the 1999 season to score 30-plus goals in a game, and Utah's 49 total points – including a program-record 17 assists – were the most in any game so far this season.
24 different Utes tallied at least a point on the day and 16 scored at least once, with six - McNamara, Karson Sparks, Luke Sheppard, Ryan Stines, Jordan Reed and Sean Siracusa - finding netting multiple times.
Notably, three Utah defenders scored pole goals as Luca Pivetta, Dallin Tanner and Conner Flanagan all slotted shots past the goalie.
Nine Utah Utes – Sheppard, Siracusa, Pivetta, Tanner, Gavin Howard, Luke Haley, Quinn Power, Ian Ludewig and Ben Trask – entered the scoring column for the first time this season, with Sheppard, Siracusa, Power and Ludewig doing so for the first time in their collegiate careers.
Utah won 30-of-39 faceoff tries, the second-best faceoff win percentage in program history (.769), and nabbed 53 ground balls, the third most in a single game. The Utes also allowed the second-fewest goals in a game in program history on 10 total saves.
Tyler Kloeckl won 13 of his 15 faceoffs for the third-best single-game win percentage in program history (.867), one spot ahead of Anthony Dara after he won eight of 10 tries (.800).
Utah was lethal in the transition game, converting on all 21 of its clearance attempts and forcing turnovers on four of Iona's tries.
Utah attempted 61 total shots compared to Iona's 25 attempts and held a 49-14 edge in shots on goal.
McNamara and Nikko DiPonio swept the ASUN weekly awards following the win, with McNamara being recognized as the conference's Offensive Player of the Week and DiPonio being named Defensive Player of the Week.

UTAH LACROSSE: NEED TO KNOWS
Utah is in its eighth year as a Division I program, holding a 57-44 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 45-25.
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).
Utah is receiving votes in both the KANE Division I Media Poll and the USILA Coaches Poll.
Nikko 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 Ryan 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 in the 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 and has gone 32-4 against ASUN opponents.

LAST TIME OUT
Utah secured its fourth win in a row and fifth of the season with a 16-7 road victory against Marquette last week.

Utah held the Golden Eagles scoreless for more than 30 minutes between the second and fourth quarters, going on a 9-0 run in that span to break the game open.
Ryan Stines quarterbacked the offense, leading the team with six points (4 G, 2 A). Luke McNamara scored five goals, becoming the first player nationally to reach 30 on the year, and Nathan Chalmers logged a career-high four points (2 G, 2 A).
Mikey Crane logged a career-high four caused turnovers to lead the Utah defense while Nikko DiPonio matched his season high with 10 ground balls.
Tyler Kloeckl won 14 of his 20 faceoff tries while Colin Lenskold recorded 12 saves and a .632 save percentage.

NO SHORTAGE OF FIREPOWER
Through the first seven games of the 2026 season, Utah has boasted one of the nation's best offensive attacks.

Utah ranks second nationally in goals per game (16.00), points per game (25.57) and scoring margin (+7.43.) and sits third in the NCAA with 9.57 assists per game.
Luke McNamara (4.29, 2nd) and Ryan Stines (3.29, 9th) both sit in the top-10 nationally in goals per game.
Stines (37) and McNamara (32) have both eclipsed 30 points this season; Utah is one of four teams nationally with multiple 30-plus point scorers and both rank in the top-20 individually (Stines - 5.29, 5th; McNamara - 4.57, 17th).
Five Utes have tallied double-digit points through the first seven games of the year, while 10 have notched at least five points. In total, 27 of the 46 players who have seen the field at least once in 2026 have logged a point.
Much of Utah's success can come down to possession time - Utah ranks 10th nationally in faceoff win percentage (.592), fifth in clearing percentage (.913), second in caused turnovers per game (12.86) and leads NCAA in ground balls per game (40.00).

RECORD WATCH
This season's Utah team has already left its mark on the record book, with a number of players looking to set career records before season's end.

Stat	Current Player	Total (Rank)	Record Holder	Total
Points	Ryan Stines	216 (T1)	Tyler Bradbury	216
Goals	Ryan Stines	132 (2)	Jordan Hyde	150
Assists	Ryan Stines	84 (2)	Tyler Bradbury	108
Ground Balls	Nikko DiPonio	258 (2)	Cole Brams	363
Caused Turnovers	Nikko DiPonio	91 (2)	Sammy Cambere	97
Man-Up Goals	Luke McNamara	12 (T1)	Jared Andreala	12
Saves	Colin Lenskold	582 (1)	--	--

NUMBERS TO KNOW

42 – Ryan Stines is riding a 42-game point streak, scoring at least a point in every game since May 5, 2023. He has also scored a goal in each of his last 14 games dating back to March 29 of last season.
4 – Nikko DiPonio ranks fourth in the nation with 2.86 caused turnovers per game, and as a team, Utah ranks second in the NCAA with 12.86 per contest.
6 –DiPonio's six caused turnovers in the season opener against Delaware are tied for the most by any player nationally in a game this season.
10 – Luke McNamara became the first NCAA Division I men's lacrosse player to score 10 or more goals in a game since the 2020 season when he net 10 against Iona.
1999 – Utah became the first squad since the turn of the century to eclipse the 30-goal mark when it dropped 32 against Iona. The last team to put up a 30-burger was Johns Hopkins against Saint Joseph's on April 21, 1999.
16 – Utah is averaging 16.00 goals per game through the first six games of the season, the second-best mark nationally and the highest in the ASUN.
53 – During the Utes' current four-game win streak, Utah has outscored its opponents by 53 goals, owning a 82-29 scoring margin during that span.
4.29 – Luke McNamara is averaging 4.29 goals per game, the second-highest mark in the nation and the best in the ASUN. For his career, the sophomore is averaging 3.0 goals per outing (63 scores in 21 outings), the best career mark among all NCAA Division I players.

LOOKING AHEAD
Utah returns to Salt LAX City and will play its first game of the 2026 season at Ute Field on Saturday, March 28, when the Utes take on the Bellarmine Knights in the first game of ASUN Conference play. The game is set to begin at noon MT and will be streamed on ESPN+. Admission is free for all fans.

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