Utah Valley Stuns No. 1 Grand Canyon
PHOENIX -- Utah Valley freshman Justin Haws bounced a 12-yard shot into the Grand Canyon goal late in the first overtime period, giving the Wolverines an 11-10 victory over the top-ranked and defending MCLA Division I national champion Lopes on Friday night in the season-opener for both teams.
Utah Valley (1-0) starts the season with a win after finishing the '15 campaign with a 4-9 mark while Grand Canyon (0-1) matches its loss total from its magical run last year, which happened almost a year ago to the day (GCU lost to Brigham Young on Feb. 6, 2015).
UVU appeared to have the game well in hand with a 10-8 lead late in the contest, but Dean Fairall fed Cam Wengreniuk with a nifty behind-the-back pass in traffic and the rookie cashed in to cut the lead to one with 1:30 left in regulation. Thirty ticks later, Drew Dziadyk finished on the doorstep to tie the game and steal all of the momentum created by the superb goaltending of UVU backstop Shawn Rowley (20 saves).
The Wolverines opened the overtime with an extended possession, but the Lopes held firm for a stop. After fending off UVU again, a turnover at midfield on the clear set up Haws' game-ender. Read Utah Lacrosse News' game story HERE.