WESTFIELD, IND.—The Carthage College men's lacrosse team opened their season in a neutral-site bout against Calvin College at the Grand Park Sports Campus in Westfield, Ind. The Red Men now own a 9-1 all-time record in season-openers as they cruised to a 21-3 victory over the Knights.
 
"Really good start to the season," said Red Men head coach David Neff. "I thought the offense played really well and we adjusted to the middle of the field by attacking over the top and underneath in the wing."
 
Andy Szun led all scorers with four goals and four assists for eight points in the contest, along with three ground balls. Brody Ilstrup opened his collegiate career with a bang as he paced all goal scorers with six scores, along with one assist for seven points. Luke Seydel matched that point total with five goals and two assists.
 
Andy Meyers turned in another impressive performance from the face-off circle, as he registered a 16-of-19 figure. The Red Men accounted for five of the nine penalties called in the contest, which accumulated to 5:00. Freshman goalkeeper Zerik Rodriguez opened his collegiate career with two saves in 45:00 of work, before her turned to Callaghan Quinn for the final 15:00.
 
"Meyers had a great start to the year at the X and Zerik played really composed in his first start," said Neff. "Need to get a little sharper in taking care of the ball, staying out of the penalty box, and applying more out of our ride. Overall great team effort."
 
The Red Men held advantages over Calvin in shots (47-9) and ground balls (47-16).
 
Carthage opens their season with a 1-0, 0-0 CCIW record while Calvin falls to 0-1, 0-0 MIAA.
 
Red Men 21, Calvin 3
 
Ilstrup notched a hat trick in the first quarter to propel the Red Men to an 8-0 cushion over the Knights. The Red Men kept the zero intact in Calvin's scoring column in the second quarter, thanks to Rodriguez's two saves in the frame. Ilstrup and Szun each tallied a pair of goals in the second quarter, while Ethan Flight added one man-up tally to push Carthage's lead to 13-0 at halftime.
 
The Knights tallied three fourth-quarter goals after being in a 20-0 hole with 7:22 left in the game. Calvin closed the game with a 3-1 run, but Carthage secured the 21-3 ousting.
 
The Red Men will return to competition on Friday, February 16 at the Canlan Sportsplex in Barrington, Ill. against Benedictine University. Game time is set for 12:00 p.m.