ALAMOSA, Colo. – Adams State Men's Lacrosse nearly pulled off the upset on Senior Day as the team went toe-to-toe with Westminster College Sunday afternoon. The Griffins escaped the ASU Lacrosse Field with a narrow 12-10 win.
 
The Grizzlies (3-9, 0-6) found themselves out to a fast start as they led 2-0 against the Griffins (9-5, 6-0). The visitors fought back to tie the game 2-all after one period and scored first five goals of the second period to lead 6-2.
 
Both squads took decent care of the ball to help facilitate and run their respective offenses. The Griffins had more chances as they had 29 shots in the first half, while Grizzlies put up just 11.
 
Adams State grabbed the game's first lead with 8:08 on the clock in the first when Kyle Butler got into the middle of the defense and scored on a Jacob Austin assist. Nearly three minutes later, Riley Morrison made it a 2-0 game on a goal scored on an assist from Butler.
 
The Grizzlies defense played well for nearly the entire for the first period but the Griffins finally managed to get on the board. They scored their first goal with 3:57 to play in the opening frame to end their drought.
 
Westminster added goal No. 2 with 2:26 on the clock and the game was tied at 2-2. The second frame belonged to the visitors as they outscored Adams State, 5-1.
 
Three of the Griffins five goals were all within the first five minutes of the second period. They added four goal with just under 9:30 to play in the half and led 5-2. Stemming back from the end of the first period, the Griffins went on a 6-0 run.
 
Trailing by four, the Grizzlies ended the scoring run with a goal of their own at the 7:05 mark on the clock. Morrison ended the drought as Kage Janes found him for the goal and cut the Griffins lead to three, 6-3.
 
Defense was the theme in the final seven minutes of the first half before the Griffins scored one more goal to push their lead back to four. They added goal No. 7 with 14 seconds on the clock to take a 7-3 lead into halftime.
 
Both teams were efficient in getting their offenses going. The Griffins were 14-17 in clear attempts, while the Grizzlies were 11-13. The Griffins however had a 22-6 shots on goal edge, but the Grizzlies had a 15-3 advantage in saves.
 
The Grizzlies came out of halftime and found a rhythm on offense that was nearly unstoppable as they scored four unanswered goals to tie the game at 7-all.
 
Morrison and Janes teamed up once again to get the scoring run started for the Grizzlies. Janes was quick to find Morrison in the middle of Griffins defense to cut the score to 7-4.
 
A penalty with just over 10 minutes to play in the third by Westminster gave Adams State an extra-man opportunity that they seized. Tanner Beck hit a quick goal thanks to an assist from Austin.
 
Morrison scored the third goal and his fourth on another extra-man opportunity at the 7:06 mark on the assist from Beck and the Grizzlies trailed by just one, 7-6. Johnny Rosas scored the game-tying goal with 2:15 to go in the third to match the score at 7-7.
 
The Griffins scored the next two goals. They added one in the final 12 seconds of the third to retake the lead, 8-7. They extended the lead to 9-7 in the first three minutes of the fourth period.
 
Beck got the Grizzlies back within one with an unassisted goal at the 10:07 mark. The Griffins answered less than a minute later to lead by two, 10-8, with 9:21 left on the clock.
 
The score remained 10-8 until there was 2:38 left in regulation when the Griffins scored again and pushed their lead back to three at 11-8.
 
Janes scored a goal with 1:51 to play in the game to keep the Grizzlies within striking distance. It did not last as the Griffins added goal 21 seconds left to play. The Grizzlies got in one last goal when Austin scored in the final second of play to bring the final score to 12-10.
 
Morrison notched a hat trick with a game-high four goals to lead the Grizzlies. Both Beck and Austin tallied three points on the day. Beck had two goals and one assist, while Austin had one goal and a pair of assists.
 
Terry Trudgian and JD Van Arsdall each helped the defense with three groundballs, respectively. Ryan Young also helped the defense with two caused turnovers. In net, Connor Johnson tallied a season-high 25 saves.
 
Nick Marcy was the offensive facilitator for the Griffins offense with eight points on the day. He scored three goals and had a game-high five assists. Kolton Atkinson also had three goals to help the offense, while Blake Gross scored two.
 
Kyle Williams led the way defensively with eight groundballs. Grant Phillips had two caused turnovers to help the defense as well. Three goalies played in the contest for Westminster with Phil Cannell getting the win. He had two saves in net.
 
The Grizzlies will be the No. 4 seed in the 2019 RMAC Men's Lacrosse Championship Tournament. They will take one top-seeded and host Westminster College. Game time is set for 5 p.m. on Friday, May 3 in Salt Lake City.