GREAT FALLS, Mont. – For the first time in seven tried in 2018, University of Providence lacrosse beat a ranked opponent, taking down (21)  University  of Colorado-Denver 12-6 in the team's second home game of the year. UP led the entire game and did a better job of possessing the ball than during any other game this year.
 
Never was that possession more effective than in a second quarter that saw the UCD Lynx get off just 2 shots in the 15 minute period. During that period, the Argos outscored UCD 5-1, giving UP a 7-2 lead at halftime.
 
"We really were able to possess the ball well today. You get  a clear , you get it to the end of the field, and then we were actually able to run our offense," UP Head Coach Fred Boekel said. "I think the kids saw what they can really do once we settle down and run our offense the way we want to."
 
Both offenses started slowly with just 3 combined goals in the first quarter, but UP had 2 of those 3. The only effective offense the Lynx could manufacture was getting middie Drew Lazar, the team's leading scorer, to win one-on-one battles. He scored both of the team's 2  first half  goals, with UP shutting out the rest of the team through 30 minutes.
 
After the 5-1 second quarter, which included 3 goals from senior attack Josh Smith, the danger for the Argos was slipping into a season-long habit of bad third quarters.
 
It looked like the team was ready this time, with Smith scoring his fourth goal on a man-up to put the Argos ahead 8-2. With six minutes left in the quarter, however, Colorado-Denver woke up and rallied off 3 goals in under a minute to pull within 3 points.
 
That damage would have been much worse if not for the play of goalkeeper Jeremy Smith. The junior had 8 of his 14 total saves in the third quarter, giving the Argos a chance to regroup.
 
"Oh man, it means everything to have him back there," Boekel said. "The number of saves that he had today from  point blank  – sometimes goalies have days where they're just on and it was an on  day  for him. Numbers just don't tell the story of how good he was."
 
Needing some offensive production, UP put a short stick in the hands of junior Chase Clark and moved him from defense to attack. He responded with a momentum-killing goal with 2:20 on the clock.
 
The last few seconds of the third quarter were wild. With under 20 seconds in the period, Clark tried for another goal, but UCD's keeper was up to the task. The Lynx then got the ball and brought it past half where they took a shot from just in beyond midfield thinking that the clock was almost out.
 
The shot went wide and out of bounds, stopping the clock with 2 seconds left.
 
That put the ball in the hands of UP's goalkeeper Jeremy Smith who chucked the ball down the field. Clark caught it with his back to the Lynx's net. From 35 yards out, with a defender on his back, Clark wheeled around and let loose a low line drive that hit the back of the next just as the buzzer sounded.
 
Suddenly the game went from 8-5 UP with UDC holding the momentum, to 10-5 UP heading into the fourth.
 
"These guys have been so close all season, so it's nice to see them finally finish. Not only finish, but we really dominated the whole game," Boekel said. "We came back and didn't end up having that major slump that we've had all year in the third quarter, and then we held them off in the fourth. It was fun."
 
In the fourth quarter, the Argo defense put the clamps back on, holding the Lynx to just 1 goal and only 3 shots on goal. A large part of that was a result of a redoubled effort on faceoffs. All game long, Argo sophomore Dante Duran battled hard against UCD's Beau  Ecksten , one of the best faceoff men in the MCLA, but in the fourth quarter, Duran won 3 of 4.
 
Josh Smith finished as UP's leading scorer with 4 goals, the same total as the day before in UP's overtime loss. This time those 4 goals were a lot more efficient, coming on 15 shots instead of 22.
 
Clark wasn't far behind in points, despite playing most of the game on defense. He has 3 goals and also led UP  with  9 caused turnovers and 6 ground balls.
 
It wasn't all Smith and Clark though, with 6 different Argos scoring, and 6 players finishing with 2 or more total points. Both Duran and freshman Turner Maza finished with 3 points on 1 goal and 2 assists. Duran also finished with 6 ground balls, 2 caused turnovers, and went 8-19 on faceoffs against  Ecksten .
 
While Jeremy Smith's 14 saves were actually below his season average, his 70 percent save percentage was his second best of the year. He also got the first point of his career on the last second assist to Clark.
 
After starting the year 1-7 UP has now won three of its last four games, giving them a record of 4-8 (1-3). The Argos only have one more regular season game left, a home contest against PNCLL opponent Central Washington University on April 22. A win over CWU would guarantee UP a place in the PNCLL playoffs.