Two Utah County rivals separated by less than five miles will play for a national championship on Saturday.
Both BYU and Utah Valley won Thursday in their semifinal matchups to advance to the MCLA Division I club lacrosse national championship game.
The Cougars and Wolverines will play in the championship at 10:30 a.m. MDT on Saturday in Round Rock, Texas.
This will be the third meeting between the two programs this season for the pair of Rocky Mountain Lacrosse Conference members. BYU won both previous matchups, beating UVU 12-10 during the regular season and 12-9 in the RMLC tournament semifinals.
How BYU reached the national championship
BYU is the No. 1 seed in the 16-team MCLA national championships field.
The Cougars beat No. 16 Michigan State 19-5 in the first round, No. 8 San Diego State 15-10 in the quarterfinals and No. 4 Liberty 20-12 in the semifinals to reach the title game.
In Thursday’s semifinal, BYU used an 8-0 to create some separation against the Flames. Jake Halversen led the Cougars with five goals.
BYU is unbeaten on the season at 18-0. The Cougars have won five previous MCLA Division I national championships in 1997, 2000, 2007, 2011 and 2021.
How Utah Valley reached the national championship
The Wolverines are the No. 14 seed in the MCLA national championships and their path to the title game is much more record-breaking than BYU’s.
UVU (10-6) beat No. 3 seed Chapman 7-6 in double overtime during the first round, becoming just the second No. 14 seed to win a first-round game. The Wolverines followed that with a 17-14 victory over No. 6 Georgia Tech in the quarterfinals.
In the semifinals, the Wolverines rallied to beat No. 7 UC Santa Barbara 13-12 in overtime in the semifinals. The Wolverines trailed 12-10 late in the fourth quarter before forcing an extra session — including the game-tying goal with 14 seconds left in regulation — before winning on freshman midfielder Carter Budger’s goal.
This is UVU’s first appearance in the MCLA Division I national championship game.