DEMOREST, GA.—The Carthage College men's lacrosse team's bout at Piedmont College on Tuesday marked the first-of-two contests in the deep south. The Brody Ilstrup-Andy Szun duo erupted for seven goals, which powered the Red Men past Piedmont 9-2. Szun finished with four goals, followed by three for Ilstrup.  Colin Poitras and Ethan Flight also contributed goals for the Carthage offense.
 
Andy Meyers, who attempted all face-offs in the contest, posted a 10-of-14 (.714) mark in the circle along with five ground balls. Joe Poremba posted a game-high six ground balls and two caused turnovers in the game.  
 
The Red Men outshot Piedmont 49-15 in the contest. Szun and Ilstrup accounted for 25 of Carthage's shot attempts. Clearing was Piedmont's Achilles heel as they finished the contest with an 11-of-19 mark. Carthage, who finished the game 13-of-15 on clears, was successful on their first eight attempts of the contest.
 
Tuesday's victory gives Carthage a 5-0, 0-0 CCIW mark while the Lions fall to 4-3, 1-0 USA South.
 
Red Men 9, Piedmont 2
 
The first six shots of the game belonged to Carthage, but it took Piedmont two shots to convert their first goal of the contest. Jeremy Kohn set that tone for Piedmont with a man-up goal at the 8:26 mark of the first to give them a 1-0 edge.  
 
That was the dose of medicine Carthage needed as they responded with a 7-0 run that propelled them to a 7-1 lead with 0:04 left in the third quarter. Carthage outshot Piedmont 34-12 throughout that stretch.
 
Piedmont added another goal in the fourth quarter before Ilstrup and Szun each tallied one within the final 5:00 to ice a 9-2 victory for Carthage.
 
Red Men goalkeeper Zerik Rodriguez posted six saves in the complete-game victory. Zach Czulada kept Piedmont in the game with 18 saves throughout 56:20 of work in net.
 
Carthage will face Berry College on the back-end of their two-game deep south stretch on Thursday, March 8 at 6:00 p.m. (ET) in Mount Berry, Ga.