KENOSHA, WIS.—Aurora University invaded Art Keller Field for a Wednesday-night showdown against the Carthage College men's lacrosse team. The Red Men didn't surrender the lead until Nick Glaser's goal at the 1:45 mark of the third quarter gave Aurora the lead for good in their 11-6 victory.
 
The Red Men dominated Aurora with a 14-4 advantage in shots throughout the first quarter en route to a 3-1 lead after the frame. The Spartans nearly turned that ratio around in the second quarter with a 12-5 lead in shots before they finished the game with a 37-32 edge.
 
"I was really proud of the defense especially the freshmen and Zerik, I thought they played outstanding," said Red Men head lacrosse coach David Neff. "Jack DeVeny had great leadership presence with the young defense. We kind of hurt our defense with our inability to be more poised and more selective in running our offense and taking the right shots and higher percentage shots and that's where we lost the game."
 
Andy Szun netted a hat trick for the Carthage offense while Andrew Krom, Brody Ilstrup and Ethan Flight each contributed a goal. The Red Men converted all 11 clear attempts throughout the final three quarters to finish the game with a 14-of-15 mark while Aurora went 20-of-22.
 
The Red Men, who committed three of the nine penalties called in the contest, finished 2-for-5 on man-up chances while the Spartans went 1-of-3. Carthage goalie Zerik Rodriguez finished the game with seven saves while Aurora's Tyler Lombardi stopped 12 shots. Liam O'Connor commanded the Carthage defense with four caused turnovers while DeVeny and Canyon Smith each had two. 
 
The Red Men fall to 7-3, 0-0 CCIW while Aurora improves to 7-1, 2-0 MLC.
 
Aurora 11, Red Men 6
 
Carthage set the tone in every facet of the game throughout the opening 15:00, which began with Szun's goal at the 8:13 mark to make the score 1-0. The Spartans tied things 1-1 on their second shot of the game with 6:59 left in the first quarter before Szun and Andrew Krom each netted a goal to give Carthage their largest lead of the game at 3-1 after the frame.
 
Lombardi kept Carthage off the scoreboard throughout the second quarter with four saves. His Aurora mates provided him two goals of support within the frame to make the score 3-3 at halftime.
 
Goals from Szun and Ilstrup gave Carthage leads of 4-3 and 5-4 before the Spartans closed the third frame with three goals to take the lead for good at 7-5. That lead grew further as Aurora outscored Carthage 4-1 within the final 15:00 to secure an 11-6 victory.
 
The Red Men will return to action against Olivet College at Art Keller Field on Saturday, March 31 at 1:00 p.m.