MISSOULA, Mont. – High hopes fell hard for Argo lacrosse in the opening game of the fourth annual Copper Cup. UGF went into the game with aspirations of its first Copper Cup win, particularly against PNCLL foe University of Montana, but penalties and turnovers led to a 14-5 loss against the Griz.
 
UGF won the ground ball battle 29-22, split faceoffs an even 50-50, and got 17 saves from sophomore goalkeeper Jeremy Smith, but turned the ball over 24 times and spent a total of eight and a half minutes in the penalty box.
 
"You know it's one thing when you get beat bad by a team that's way better than you are, but we just played scared," Head Coach Fred Boekel said. "They might be a bit better than we are, but they aren't 9 goals better than we are. I think they're maybe 2 or 3 goals better."
 
The Argo drew first blood, scoring two minutes and 17 seconds into the game with a goal from sophomore Kobe Johnson, assisted by senior Al Williams. That momentum was killed by over three minutes of penalty time for the Argos, helping Montana rally off 3 goals and finished the first quarter with a 4-2 lead.
 
That lead grew and grew over the next 30 minutes of play. In the second and third quarter the Griz outscored the Argos 9-1.
 
UGF's top defender and second leading scorer, sophomore Chase Clark, was neutralized for most of the game by penalties. For the second time this season, both with the same group of officials, Clark fouled out of the game.
 
Clark served four and half minutes in the box and left the game for good with almost the entire fourth quarter left.
 
Despite the star's absence, UGF's best quarter was the fourth. The period belonged to freshman Connor Gilbert, who reached double-digit goals on the season with two scores on unassisted efforts.
 
"We ended up just going to an open set offense in the fourth quarter and they were concentrating so hard on Chase and on Josh that it opened up for some of those other guys," Boekel said. "Connor got some nice dodges in there to score those goals."
 
The Argos also got an admirable effort from sophomore goalkeeper Jeremy Smith. While 14 shots eventually made it past Smith into the net, 17 were kept from that same fate by his efforts setting a new season high for saves in a game.
 
With the loss, UGF is still winless in the Copper Cup and the game also counts as a conference loss for UGF bringing the team's record to 4-3 (1-2). The Argos will get another crack at a Copper Cup win on Saturday, April 1, but it won't be easy against #8 Montana State.