DENVER, Colo. – Progress is being shown for a (21) University of Providence lacrosse team that still has yet to have practiced on a full field despite now being in the heart of its schedule. About 12 hours after a 15-8 loss to (14) Northern Arizona University, the Argos put in a strong showing against a higher ranked team, falling to (4) Saint John's University 12-9.
 
UP finished with its highest point total of the season and did so with a more balanced offense. Heading into the game, only one of the team's 27 total goals on the season came from someone other than senior Josh Smith and junior Chase Clark. Against the Johnnies, five different Argos scored, including two players who scored their first goals of the season.
 
The first goal of the game went to an Argo not named Smith or Clark, with freshman Wyatt Jones getting his second of the season less than three minutes into the game. SJU controlled the middle portion of the first quarter, scoring twice, but as would be the case throughout the game, the end of the period belonged to UP.
 
In those final two minutes of the first, both Smith and Clark got their first of the day, including a goal from Clark with just 2 seconds left on the clock.
 
The next two quarters followed a similar pattern. Saint John's dominated both periods for 14 minutes with UP scoring a goal in the final seconds to end a significant run. In the second, the run was 4 goals to none until Smith scored with 47 seconds left. Then, in the third, SJU scored 5 unanswered goals before Smith against ended the rally by scoring with less than a minute to go.
 
Down 11-5, UP tried to mount a large comeback in the fourth quarter and had some success. SJU scored the first goal of the quarter, but the Argos then rallied off 4 straight. The first of those was Clark, but then the team started to mix it up.
 
Freshman middie Sam Budd scored the first goal of his collegiate career with just over 10 minutes to go. After that, UP its first assisted goals of the game, starting with a score from Smith off of a Clark pass. Then, junior middie Kobe Johnson scored his first of the year on another feed from Clark.
 
UP is now 1-3 (1-0) on the year, with the last two losses coming against ranked teams. Next for the Argos will be the most important weekend of the season, with the playing of the 4th Annual Copper Cup. The Copper Cup is the annual three-team tournament between the three MCLA teams from the state of Montana. In 2017, an upset win over Montana State University was the turning point in UP's season.
 
In 2018, the tournament will be hosted in Bozeman, Montana with its first opponent being (9) MSU, on March 23, followed by (11) University of Montana the following day.