BLOOMINGTON, ILL.—The Carthage College men's lacrosse team made their fourth-consecutive appearance in the CCIW Men's Lacrosse Tournament Championship Game on Saturday, where they faced Illinois Wesleyan University at Tucci Stadium in Bloomington, Illinois. The Titans' home field advantage was too much for the Red Men as they suffered a 25-15 loss.
 
Andy Szun paced the Carthage offense with four goals in the contest over five shots on goal, which gives him a program-record 298. He broke Danny Morse's (2011-2014) previous career shots on goal school record of 293. Colin Poitras, Brody Ilstrup and Ethan Flight each registered two goals while five other Red Men contributed one. Will Rossi notched seven goals for Illinois Wesleyan while Peter Trunk contributed five. 
 
Seventeen penalties were assessed in the contest, which produced 12 man-up goals between both teams. The Titans were 7-of-9 on man-up opportunities while Carthage notched a 5-for-8 figure.
 
The loss drops Carthage's record to 13-6, 4-2 CCIW while Illinois Wesleyan claimed both the 2018 CCIW Men's Lacrosse Regular Season and Tournament Championships with a 16-3, 6-0 CCIW record. The CCIW doesn't receive an automatic bid into the 2018 NCAA Division III Men's Lacrosse Tournament, so both teams will discover whether they've earned a pool "B" or pool "C" bid during the selection show scheduled to be aired at www.ncaa.com on Sunday, May 6 at 9:00 p.m. (ET).
 
Illinois Wesleyan 25, Red Men 15
 
The Titans jumped to a 4-0 lead at the 11:06 mark of the first quarter before goals from Flight and Poitras cut that advantage to 4-2 with 9:06 left. The Red Men couldn't inch closer than that as Illinois Wesleyan outscored them 9-3 in the first quarter. The Titans cruised to a 19-9 lead after three quarters before both teams played evenly in the final frame.
 
Carthage battled Illinois Wesleyan to a 6-6 fourth quarter, but didn't have enough time in a 25-15 loss.
 
Red Men goalies Zerik Rodriguez and William Gast collectively made 15 saves while their counterpart McGuire Mynatt tallied seven saves for the Titans.