INCLINE VALLEY, Nev. – The best defensive performance of the year for University of Providence lacrosse wasn't enough for the Argos to end a six game losing streak. UP played its eighth straight road game, and sixth straight game against a ranked team in a contest against (10) Sierra Nevada College, that the Argos lost 8-5.
 
SNC's 8 total points were the fewest scored by any of the ranked opponents UP has faced in 2018 and is the first time the Argos have held a team to single-digit goals for the first time since the team's second game of the year.
 
Throughout most of the season, UP has made a habit of often ending the first quarter with a lead, keeping it close by halftime, and then losing control in the third quarter. Against the Eagles, the game followed a different pattern.
 
This time, the first quarter favored the other team, with SNC scoring first and taking a 4-2 lead after 15 minutes. UP's 2 goals were each scored by senior Josh Smith, the first coming unassisted and the second coming from freshman Wyatt Jones.
 
After giving up 4 goals in the first quarter, the Argo defense clamped down and from 3:12 in the first quarter till 13:54 in the fourth, UP only game up 1 goal. That goal was scored in a 1-1 second quarter, that featured a third goal for Smith.
 
UP finally figured out the third quarter, particularly on the defensive end. Sierra Nevada failed to score in the period, and a fourth goal from Smith, this one coming off a pass from freshman Turner Maza, pulled the Argos within 1 goal of lead.
 
The fourth quarter started with SNC ahead 5-4, but UP's chances of earning a win in the final 15 minutes ended quickly. The Eagle's scored twice in the first two minutes of the period and added another with 8:30 left in the game to pull ahead 8-4.
 
UP could only muster one more goal before the final horn, but that goal was a career first for senior middie Rick Cook.
 
UP's record goes to 1-7 on the year, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel. SNC marked the end of the Argo's murder's row portion of the schedule. It will be another week before the Argos get to play at home for the first time in 2018, but they are done with ranked teams at least for the next few games.
 
The team's next opponent will be unranked University of Puget Sound on April 8 at 6 p.m. in Tacoma, Washington. In 2017, UP beat that particular conference foe 14-2.