LOGAN, Utah – A  fourth quarter  collapse led to the first loss of the season for (18) University of Providence lacrosse. The Argos had a 1 goal lead late in the fourth quarter but allowed two goals in the final four minutes in an 8-7 loss to MCLA Division I Utah State University.
 
Until those final two Aggie goals, the Argos led most of the way. Senior Josh Smith was the main reason why, with the attackman scoring 5 of the team's 7 goals.
 
Right off the bat, Smith established himself as a force to be reckoned with. Less than two minutes into the game, junior Chase Clark fed the big man for the game's first goal. About one minute later, the tandem teamed up again in the same sequence to bring the score to 2-0 UP.
 
Clark continued the run with 10:19 on the first quarter clock, scoring a solo goal for his first of the game.
 
After taking a 3-0 lead, the Argos seemed to take their foot off the gas and USU closed  in to  3-2 by the end of the period. That momentum carried into the second quarter as Utah State scored twice more to take a 4-3 lead.
 
Smith and Clark responded. First was Smith with his third goal of the game with 7:14 left in the first half. Then, with under 10 seconds to go, Clark received a pass from middie Kobe Johnson and scored to give the Argos a 5-4 advantage heading into the half.
 
Defense prevailed in the third quarter with only 2 goals scored between the two teams. While Utah State was able to shutout Smith and Clark in the period, a new name reached the scoresheet for UP. Freshman Wyatt Jones scored the first goal of his collegiate career with 12:05 in the third to put UP ahead by 2.
 
Utah State answered a few minutes later and the score heading into the fourth quarter was 6-5 Argos.
 
Less than a minute into the final period, the Aggies tied it up at 6-6, but once again Smith was there to respond. His scored his fifth goal of the game off of a feed from Jones to put UP back ahead with 12 minutes to go.
 
That's when things went downhill. UP caught the turnover bug, struggling to hold on to the ball in efforts to kill the clock. Instead, Utah State got plenty of chances to tie the game and eventually did so with 3:19 left. Then with under a minute to go, the Aggies struck again to hand UP the 8-7 loss.
 
The loss gives UP a 1-1 (1-0) record on the year. UP is about to start a stretch of six straight games against ranked teams, all of which will be on the road. The first will be March 17 at 7 p.m. against (14) Northern Arizona University.