KENOSHA, WIS.—Reaching the mountain's peak is an ever-sweet feeling after the ups and downs that come along the way. The Carthage College men's lacrosse team had a chance to reach a conference's peak for the first time in the program's eight-year history. The Red Men have been on the cusp of reaching the top of the mountain since 2013 when they were a member of the Midwest Lacrosse Conference.
 
The Red Men have fell in three-consecutive conference title games and weren't looking to make that four in a row on Saturday afternoon in the 2016 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Championship Game against Illinois Wesleyan University at Art Keller Field. Andrew Krom, who only had four goals on the season prior to Saturday's championship bout, did everything to avoid that from happening. He led Carthage with three goals to help them secure a 13-8 victory over Illinois Wesleyan, and lock the 2016 CCIW Men's Lacrosse Tournament Championship.
 
The Red Men improve to 10-9, 4-1 CCIW on the season while Illinois Wesleyan falls to 13-5, 4-1 CCIW.
 
Red Men 13, Illinois Wesleyan 8
 
The Red Men and Titans were tick-for-tack in the first quarter. Carthage set the tone when Billy Lane tallied his 16^th goal of the season to make the score 1-0 with 13:54 left in the first quarter.
 
The Titans controlled possession of the ball for the next seven minutes. It was a time frame that saw them convert on three-consecutive clears. Most importantly, it resulted in a 2-1 lead at the 5:38 mark of the first quarter.
 
Krom scored the first of his three goals with 3:29 remaining in the first quarter to tie the game 2-2.
 
Illinois Wesleyan was on Carthage's heels throughout the second quarter. The Red Men and Titans traded goals to open the second quarter to make the score 3-3 at the 9:42 mark. That was enough fuel to propel the Red Men, and Krom was a vital part in that when he tallied his second goal of the game with 6:02 left in the second quarter to make the score 4-3.
 
After Carthage head men's lacrosse coach David Neff called a timeout at the 4:05 mark of the second quarter, Lane strung a couple of shots together. His second shot found the back of the net to give the Red Men a 5-3 lead with 3:02 remaining in the second frame.
 
The Titans stormed back with three goals to take a 6-5 lead with 8:28 left in the third quarter. After Illinois Wesleyan and Carthage traded goals to make the score 7-6 at the 6:08 mark of the third quarter, momentum swung in one direction.
 
That direction happened to be in favor of the Red Men. Carthage stormed back with six-straight goals en route to a 12-7 lead with 2:46 remaining in the fourth quarter.  Michael Julius, the 13^th ranked scorer in the country, responded with a goal for the Titans to make the score 12-8 with 1:19 left. Time was Illinois Wesleyan's worst enemy from that point forward as Luke Seydel scored with 0:22 on the clock to push the Red Men's lead to 13-8. 
 
Krom's three goals led the Red Men scoring corps. Seydel, Lane, Dylan Harris and Andy Szun each tallied a pair of goals for Carthage.  Justin Proctor notched nine ground balls and won 14 face-offs.
 
Illinois Wesleyan out-shot Carthage 46-37 in the game. One penalty was called in the contest, an unnecessary rougness call on Andy Meyers at the 11:12 mark of the third quarter.
 
The Red Men will learn their 2016 NCAA Division III Men's Lacrosse Tournament fate during the selection show on Sunday, May 8^th at 9:00 p.m. (ET). The show can be viewed here.