Seniors shine on Senior Day to push Vandals past Cougars
The Idaho men’s club lacrosse team followed its seniors as they dominated the Cougars 14-8 on Senior Day Sunday in the Kibbie Dome to earn a spot in the playoffs.
The game seemed to be out of hand early when seniors Colton Raichl, Harrison Sawyer, Patrick Tunison and Deric Wilson took over the first half. The four combined for eight goals in the first half and scored 13 of the 14 total goals for the Vandals.
Three of them ended up with hat tricks — Raichl (3), Tunison (5) and Wilson (3), with Sawyer barely missing out on netting three goals. The lone non-senior to score was junior Blake Batman in the third quarter.
Teresa Patrick | Courtesy
The Idaho men’s club lacrosse team huddles during its 14-8 Senior Day win over Washington State Sunday in the Kibbie Dome.
But it wasn’t only the offense that shined during the game. Senior defenseman Austin Volking was given the game ball as he and senior captain Nolan Knuth shut down the Cougars’ attack.
“It’s a big game for them and they all stepped up,” Idaho coach Sammy Vogel-Seidenberg said of his seniors. “We knew they would and we knew it would be their game. For them, the goals they’ve been trying to reach for four years, we’re reaching them today.”
Idaho takes on longtime rivals Boise State for its final matchup of the season. Both teams share a 4-2 divisional record and will battle for the No. 3 seed in the conference tournament. The match takes place Saturday in Boise to close out the regular season.
“We are really excited to play them,” Vogel-Seidenberg said. “They got a good team this year and we know that. So we know we have to bring our best game. We want to keep the streak alive.”
Gaining the third spot in the playoffs would mean the Vandals would get to play Simon Fraser over the No. 4 team in the nation, Oregon State.
“We definitely want Simon Fraser because we match up a little bit better with them than we do with Oregon State,” Wilson said.
Idaho took on both teams towards the beginning of the season. Oregon State took Idaho down handily, defeating the Vandals 19-7 while the match against Simon Fraser was a little closer, losing 18-11.
“It would be kind of a relief (playing Simon Fraser) because they have less numbers and I think a little bit less athletic of a team,” Batman said. “Simon Fraser would allow us to keep a little bit of energy. They have less numbers so they wouldn’t be able to run the field on us as much.”
Ryan Pavelcan be reached at [email protected]