BYU men's lacrosse captures 6th MCLA national title, tied for most in club history

PROVO — For the second time in three years, BYU is on top of the collegiate club lacrosse world.

Gavin Taylor totaled eight goals, and the Cougars pulled away from Virginia Tech 16-13 to capture a second MCLA national title in three years Saturday at River City Sportsplex near Richmond, Virginia.

The Cougars' sixth national championship ties Colorado State for the most in MCLA history, a run that dates back to the inaugural tournament in 1997.

BYU (20-1) also won an invitational national title in 2021, but the MCLA cancelled the 2020 season the previous March due to the COVID-19 pandemic and considered any contests played after as scrimmage contests, according to a news release. The Cougars then went on to win the 2021 MCLA invitational, an eight-team tournament organized with several top squads in the country that is not included in the collegiate club lacrosse organization's annual record book that includes each champion of the 16-team national championship.

Saturday's title will count, though.

"We planned for this day from our first practice all the way back in September," said BYU coach Matt Schenk, who played for the Cougars' title-winning team in 1997.

BYU scored three goals in the first five minutes and Mason Quick notched his second of three goals d to stretch the lead to 4-0 of the first quarter, but Virginia Tech came back and tied the game at 7-7 on Jake Blibaum's goal with 8.8 seconds left in the half.

After Tanner Snow gave the Hokies — who survived a late comeback to hold off second-seeded Utah Valley in Thursday's semifinals — their first lead of the day to open the third, Olympus High alum Hutton Murphy scored three of his four goals during a 4-0 run that put BYU back in front, 13-9 with 4:34 left in the quarter.

Taylor, the senior from American Fork, opened the fourth with a goal to stretch the Cougars' lead to 14-10 and put the defending champs back in control for good en route to Schenk's third (official) championship as head coach of the program.

After jumping out to a 10-0 start including wins over No. 15 Texas, No. 13 Oregon, No. 14 Auburn, No. 20 Liberty and No. 5 Tennessee, the Cougars took their first loss of the season to Utah Valley 17-11 back on April 3. That vaulted the Wolverines into the No. 1 national ranking for the rest of the regular season, until BYU knocked its crosstown rival from the ranks of the unbeaten 11-10 in the championship game of the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse Conference tournament at Zions Bank Stadium.

The Cougars took the No. 1 seed into the national tournament, with UVU as the No. 2 seed and a possible rubber match awaiting in the title game. The Cougars cruised past Michigan State and Georgia, 13-6 and 23-9 respectively, but holding off Florida State in a national semifinal 19-8.

After wins over Texas and South Carolina in the opening rounds, the Hokies (16-2) dispatched Utah Valley by jumping out to a 10-4 lead after three quarters before the Wolverines' six-goal rally fell short to set up Saturday's title tilt.

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