College Coach Interviews w/ Matt Taylor (USU) and Amy Erickson (Utah Tech)
Also, Utah Stick Clicks, Sean Gerry (Cedar) Q&A, UVU/BYU Ranked No. 1 & No. 2 in MCLA
Before we dive in, one of our community members, Lincoln, a Syracuse youth lacrosse player, was diagnosed with ALCL Lymphoma, a rare and aggressive form of childhood cancer. One moment, Lincoln was playing lacrosse, going to school, and counting down the days until Christmas. The next, he was in a hospital bed facing chemotherapy and a diagnosis no child should ever have to hear. If you’ve got a few bucks to spare, please consider donating to the GoFundMe to get Lincoln back on the field!
Tribal West is a proud sponsor of the Utah Lax Report. Shop online at tribalwest.com and enter FREESHIPUTAH26 to receive Free Shipping.
Utah Stick Clicks
I’m really excited to announce a new weekly feature for the newsletter: Utah Stick Clicks. The Utah Stick Clicks is a gallery of local lacrosse photography. Each week, photographers will have the opportunity to submit photos they took from games that week. Ron Hill and I will then compile them and pick the best 10-20 from each week to be featured in a weekly gallery. We’ll also be engaging in community outreach and training to help up and coming photographers find their foot in the sport. Stay tuned with details on how to submit and watch our Instagram account for reminders. We’ll also have a Photo of the Year contest… more on that later.
Matt Taylor Ready to Lead Utah State
The Utah State Aggies hired Matt Taylor last Fall and have its sights set on the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse Conference D-II title and another appearance at the MCLA National Tournament. The roster and staff have seen changes, which meant the fall was critical for the Aggies.
“With so much turnover, fall ball was us just getting started with program as coaches and it really was an intro period for new staff and players to get to know each other and understand what we have with program,” said Taylor.
The Aggies, who are ranked No. 11 in the USA Lacrosse MCLA D-II Preseason Top 20, will have a new look on the field.
“We lost 8 of 10 starters from last year’s team and a number of backups,” said Taylor. “Bryson Fell is our leading returner on offense and will be an anchor for us on that side of the ball. He’ll have a good supporting cast for him to lean on in Jacob Foutz, Deni Jones, and Mike Richter.”
The defense will be new and Bear VanKampen, the goalie on last years squad, will convert back to LSM. The Aggies will have some great additions with Rocky Edelman and Zach Davis joining the squad.
“Porter Jackson from Sky View played great between the pipes for us in cage this fall,” said Taylor. “We are trying to be the best version of ourselves. We are updating our culture to be heavily focused on growth and enjoying competition day in and out. We intend to compete in everything we do from line drills to game day. We are bringing a revamped energy and looking to develop a new breed of lacrosse athlete at USU.”
Taylor, who coached at Mountain Crest for the last 4 seasons, is looking to revamp the Aggies style of play.
“We are reshaping our play with a focus on Fun, Fast, and Fearless,” said Taylor. “Fun in that we will always enjoy the grind, the competition with players who love ball. Fast in that we want to push tempo and be the aggressor each day. Fearless in that we will always push the boundaries of our play and coaching ability to progress ourselves to new heights and never let potential of failure be a deterrent to our progression and creativity.”
The Aggies are coming off a 10-8 season in 2025 which ended with a first round loss to UNC-Charlotte in the MCLA National Tournament. The RMLC D-II conference is very competitive and it’s certainly up for grabs this year.
“We expect Montana State to be very strong again this year along with Air Force (club) and Denver (club) who are all returning a strong group of starters,” said Taylor. “We will host all but Denver in Logan this year and expect to get another shot at a few of them come the RMLC Tournament. We will have a lot of chances to test ourselves this season playing many top teams including St Thomas, College of Idaho, and testing ourselves against D-I teams like Boise and Utah.”
Taylor started playing lacrosse in 8th grade in Snohomish, Washington and played his Senior year at Clearfield High School. Taylor played for the Aggies until 2015.
“I am an offensive guy by nature because I like getting buckets but still from that old school group of lacrosse where we ran a lot of two-way play,” said Taylor. “I very much enjoy jumping in and mixing it up on both sides of the ball.”
2026 Utah State Schedule
2/8 - v. Boise State
2/13 - v. Cal State San Marcos (neutral)
2/14 - v. St. Thomas (neutral)
2/15 - @ MSU Denver
2/21 - v. Montana State
2/28 - v. Northern Arizona
2/28 - v. Montana
3/6 - v. Dayton (neutral)
3/7 - @ Bridgewater
3/8 - v. Rhode Island (neutral)
3/21 - v. Wyoming
3/22 - v. Minn-Duluth
3/29 - @ Utah (club)
4/10 - v. Air Force (club)
4/11 - v. College of Idaho
4/12 - v. Southern Utah
Amy Erickson Excited about 2026 Trailblazers Squad
We are getting closer to the college lacrosse season and coaches are getting their plans in place for the games ahead. Amy Erickson is the head coach for the Utah Tech University team and sat down with ULR to talk about what’s ahead.
ULR: How long have you been coaching?
Erickson: I have been coaching for 17 years. I’ve been coaching at the university for three, going on four years. My background includes head coach positions for three higher level lacrosse high schools up north, taking state with one of them. I’ve coached for national youth teams, I’ve coached young players, I referee for the high school girls’ teams in southern Utah and I currently run a youth girls program here as well.
ULR: What are your plans for the season?
Erickson: Our plans for this upcoming season include having a competitive team, helping players grow as individuals and students, and having fun! In years past we have not held tryouts but this season we will be to help us become more competitive with our team and play. We are looking for committed, driven players! We’re hoping to have a solid team that can compete against other collegiate programs here in Utah as well as the surrounding states.
ULR: What are your hopes for the season?
Erickson: My personal hope for these players this year is to solidify our program so that it will remain at Utah Tech for years to come. We have worked so hard to get this club up and running, and it deserves a permanent place here. My hope is for these players to receive much deserved recognition and support at UTU.
ULR: What players should we watch this season?
Erickson:
#38 Ashley Cisco (defender and midfielder)
#23 Lily Rosenburg (defender)
#7 Allana Young (midfield)
#14 Kamaile Hallam (attack)
#28 Elaina Smolka (midfield and attack)
ULR: How will you gauge success this season?
Erickson: I believe a successful season is one in which there is growth and progress individually and as a team. Winning is important and the girls work hard for wins, but finding their way as adults and learning more about who they are and their purpose, that’s the point, that’s success.
We hope that Coach Erickson and the team have a successful season! If you are a student at UTU and would like to learn more about lacrosse tryouts fill out this form. And be sure to support the team at their games this season!
Q&A with Cedar Head Coach Sean Gerry
ULR: What is your lacrosse background?
Gerry: I played lacrosse in high school at Edward Little High School in Auburn, Maine my senior year (2004). I played defense, and quickly became one of my team’s leading defensive players. From there I attempted to start a lacrosse club at SUU for a few years, with little real success at the time. I helped coach a youth team in St. George for a season. After that I focused on my career and family. When the coaching job became available this year, I discussed it with my wife and applied.
ULR: What are you looking forward to the most about coaching?
Gerry: I am excited to help share the game that is nearest and dearest to my heart with others. Being able to participate in this sport in a meaningful way is a dream come true.
ULR: What else should people know about you?
Gerry: I have been a member of the Utah Army National Guard since 2006, starting that career as a combat engineer. I picked up a few other engineering specialities, then joined the SUU ROTC program. I graduated from SUU in 2011, and upon graduating I became a 2nd Lieutenant with the 116th Engineer company, as a platoon leader. Additionally I was the Executive Officer for the 118th Sapper company, then was moved to the 1457th Battalion as a staff officer. After 2 years there I moved to the 115th Engineer Facilities Detachment (EFD) and deployed with them in 2018to Camp Arifjan, Kuwait. Upon returning home, I was moved to the 204th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade (MEB) Headquarters Support Company, eventually becoming the commander of that company in 2022. Upon completion of my command time, I went back to the 115th EFD and deployed with them a second time, this time to Camp Buehring, Kuwait. I am currently a Major with the 4th ID MCP-OD, a liaison unit between the 4th ID out of Fort Carson and the 204th MEB. I have been teaching since 2012. I started at Tuacahn High School as a part time P.E. teacher, then found a full time job at Vista School, in Ivans. While I was deployed in 2018, I worked on my master’s degree in physics education through WGU, completing the program in January of 2020, while working at a boys youth home. I was hired to teach science at Cedar High School in July to that year and have been teaching there ever since.
I married my beautiful wife, Amanda in May of 2011, and have 2 lovely daughters ages 13 and 8. My wife comes from a family of teachers, and has been teaching herself since 2006. We currently live in Enterprise, UT.
My hobbies include playing videogames with my children, most outdoor activities, playing most sports, Brazilian jiu jitsu, reading, and table-top gaming.
Other Lax Notes
NCAA
Inside Lacrosse published its ‘Every Team in One Sentence’ story. I won’t spoil what they said about the Utes, so read it yourself!
One of my favorite writers in the lacrosse world, Dan Arestia, published his ‘Favorite, Runner-up and Darkhorse’ for every NCAA conference. Take a look here.
MCLA
USA Lacrosse released its MCLA preseason polls. UVU takes the No. 1 spot in D-I followed by No. 2 BYU. They play on April 3 so be sure to clear your calendars. UVU attackman Blake Yates was named the Preseason Player of the Year. Utah State was voted the No. 11 team in the D-II poll.
USA Women’s National Team
The USWNT was in Round Rock, Texas for a winter training camp where the team showed progress.
Speaking of National Teams, the registration for the LA 2028 Olympics ticket draw opens on Wednesday. Get those Sixes tickets if you can! Learn more here.
Club
Last weekend, several Utah teams and players found themselves in Arizona. The Falcons (Skyridge) won the 2026/27 bracket at the Adrenaline Rise tournament and 801 Tribe 2028 made it to the championship game for the 2028/29 division. NULC had two teams: a 2028/29 team and a 2030/31 team who fought hard all weekend long.
At the WLF Elite Championships, also in Arizona, Mountain West Prime showed well with several teams making statements. The 2030 team won the championship after entering bracket play at the No. 7 seed. They beat Mad Dog West Elite 2030 Black, 9-5, then beat Premier West 2030, 7-5, then beat Iron Horse ATX Orange, 9-5. What a way to win a tournament!
This weekend is the legendary Sandstorm tournament. Tag us in your pics from the event!
Interview w/ Megan Jensen
Last week I had the pleasure of interviewing Megan Jensen for the Utah Lacrosse Report Podcast. Jensen is the head coach at Provo and founder of Utah County Lacrosse.
Paid Subscriptions
And to close out this newsletter, as you may have already seen, we’ve turned on paid subscriptions. We offer three levels:
Free - As a free subscriber, you will get an email newsletter on Monday and a podcast on Thursday. If you’ve been subscribed before, this is no different from what you’ve received in the past.
Paid - For just $5 a month or $50 a year, you’ll get the Monday newsletter, Thursday podcast and any other subscriber-only posts we create. Your membership also helps pay the ULR staff and includes any other exclusive perks that come as we come across them.
Crease Club - In addition to the perks of a Paid membership, the Crease Club gets you ULR Swag and a $25 gift card to a local lacrosse store. You can find out more here.
You can also get a 25% discount on annual regular paid memberships for Groups if you sign up 10 or more people which is great for teams or large families or both!
That’s all for now, see you next week!