Halversen's Seven-Goal Final Propels BYU to Fifth MCLA Championship

ROUND ROCK, Texas – Brigham Young attackman Jake Halversen scored seven goals along with an assist to lead the top-seeded Cougars to a 13-5 victory over No. 14 Utah Valley and claim the title at the 2024 MCLA National Championships presented by New Balance.

The championship was the fifth all-time for Brigham Young (19-0), which recorded its first undefeated season in program history.

The flavor of the game was set early when Halversen opened the scoring 59 seconds into the game. The story continued six minutes later when Halversen took a feed from Stew Vassau and ripped his second. The lead went to 3-0 just over a minute later when Dalin Clark got into the mix off a dish from Alton Taylor.

Utah Valley (10-7) finally found a reason for optimism at the start of the second quarter when Ashton Matheny slung a low shot into the Cougars cage. That was quickly quashed when Halversen completed his first hat trick 49 seconds later.

Jackson Rehrer responded for Utah Valley on a roll back dodge, but Jacob Simpson provided the BYU counter to send the Cougars into the half with a 5-2 advantage.

The teams traded goals to open the second half, including Halversen’s fourth, to keep the margin at three, 6-3. It wouldn’t last long.

Gavin Taylor scored on pass from Max Roberts to start the binge followed by the fifth, sixth and seventh markers from Halversen to give the Cougars a 10-3 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

The Wolverines would get no closer

Easton Wilkey went nearly the entire game, making 11 saves. He was replaced briefly in the fourth quarter by Ryan Mortensen, who was credited with one save. Joining Halversen with multiple goals was Clark and Vassau.

Five different players scored for the Wolverines. Max Sturgis turned away nine shots in the losing effort.