UD men’s lacrosse final game

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The University of Dallas men’s lacrosse team played their final game of the 2019 season on Friday, April 26, against Southwestern University. The Crusaders played the Pirates in the semi-final game of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) Tournament, which is the first SCAC Tournament that has been played since 2014.

“It was huge for the SCAC to bring back lacrosse, and extremely meaningful for us to get the opportunity to host this historic event,” said senior Tyler Smith. “It was definitely nerve-wracking being out there in our first collegiate playoff experience, but I think this young roster getting its first postseason experience is great for the future.”

“Coming into the game we felt we had nothing to lose,” said junior Bogar Trout III.  “We wanted to play our hearts out and leave no doubt on the field.”

Southwestern took over the game early and never looked back. The Pirates scored within the first minute of the game as sophomore Zac Asbury scored on an assist from senior Kai Knight-Turcan.

The Pirates’ offense kept rolling as they ended the first quarter 11-0. Southwestern stretched their lead in the second quarter, scoring three more times and continuing to shut out UD.

The Crusaders finally got on the board in the third quarter when sophomore Tucker Jameson scored, making the score 15-1. The goal came while the Crusaders were playing a man down, as Trout was in the penalty box.

Dallas scored the final goal of the game, as Smith scored his 76th career goal to make the final score of 23-2. Smith is the all-time leading scorer in the history of UD men’s lacrosse.

“While it may not be reflected on the scoreboard, we definitely had good moments during the game,” said Smith. “The defense definitely deserves a lot of credit for their play, the ball ended up on their side of the field quite often and they made some solid stops. Hector made some great saves in cage as well. Offensively, Tucker did a great job fighting his way through a lot of defensive pressure for a strong goal and Jake had incredible field vision on his assist at the end of the game. Overall, everyone gave their best effort today and nobody should hang their heads.”

The worst result of the game was not the final score, but was that the final buzzer signaled the last game the UD seniors would ever play. The 2019 men’s lacrosse seniors included Smith, Joshua McClendon, and Ben Blessard.

“We are going to miss the leadership of [Tyler and Josh],” said Trout.  “Also, we are going to take what learned from them and continue to grow the program in the right direction.”

“It’s been incredible playing with these guys over the course of my four years here,” said Smith. “Josh and I have spent countless hours together in the offseason and saying late after practices working on different aspects of our games. I’m extremely thankful to have had him as my teammate and as a lifelong friend.”

UD’s loss to Southwestern brings the Crusaders’ final official record to 1-9. For the season UD set a new team scoring record, netting 144 goals.

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