KENOSHA, WIS.—The Carthage College men's lacrosse team hosted #4 seed Augustana College in a CCIW Tournament Semifinal matchup on Wednesday night at Art Keller Field. A dose of déjà vu kicked in from last Wednesday's meeting between the schools as Carthage had to come back from a halftime deficit. The Red Men found themselves in a 2-0 hole at halftime before they outscored Augustana 5-1 in the second half en route to a 5-3 victory.
The Red Men held advantages in shots (35-27), saves (14-10), clears (16-18, 16-23), ground balls (29-17) and face-offs (9-3).
Andy Meyers, who entered Wednesday night as NCAA Division III's leader in face-off winning percentage (.768), went 9-for-12 from the circle against the Vikings. Red Men defenseman
Joe Poremba tied for a career-high four caused turnovers in the contest.
The #1 Red Men will host #2 Illinois Wesleyan University in the CCIW Tournament Championship Game on Saturday, May 6 at 2:00 p.m. The Titans defeated Elmhurst College 23-12 in the other CCIW Semifinal game on Wednesday night.
The Red Men improve to 16-3, 6-0 CCIW while Augustana ends their season with a 7-11, 3-3 CCIW record. Carthage's 16 victories tie a school record (2015) for most wins in a season.
Red Men 5, Augustana 3
Despite outshooting Augustana 17-13 in the first half, Carthage found themselves in a 2-0 hole thanks to a pair of Nick Gallo goals in each the first and second quarters. Gallo was called for slashing at the 9:35 mark of the third quarter. This helped produce
Andrew Krom's man-up tally with 9:07 left in the third to cut the Vikings' lead to 2-1.
Andy Szun turned an Augustana turnover into a goal at the 5:07 mark of the third to tie the game 2-2. The goal was Szun's 50
th of the 2017 season.
Andrew Krom gave Carthage a 3-2 lead when he took a pass from
Luke Seydel in front of the net, where he buried his 20
th goal of the season with 00:32 left in the third.
Andy Meyers registered his first career goal off an ensuing won face-off, where he took the ball and fired a shot to the back of the net at the 14:52 mark of the fourth quarter to make the score 4-2.
Billy Lane widened the margin to 5-2 with 11:21 left in the fourth. The Vikings added a goal with 1:40 left in the game, but a comeback bid was too late as Carthage held onto a 5-3 victory.
Carthage goalkeeper
Ryan Smith registered a season-high 14 saves in the contest.