GRAND RAPIDS, MICH.—A two-game Michigan road trip began with a Friday-night bout at Calvin College's Zuidema Field for the Carthage College men's lacrosse team. The first half resulted in an even battle, where the Red Men went into intermission with a 4-3 lead and a 17-16 hole in shots. Carthage would erupt with nine third-quarter goals, which gave them enough cushion in a 14-5 drubbing over Calvin.
A trio of Red Men notched hat tricks in
Brody Ilstrup,
Noah Lindner and
Colin Poitras. Ilstrup concluded the contest with a game-high nine shots.
Carthage opened the game with a sub-par 5-of-9 mark in clears, but would convert on 14-of-15 throughout the final three quarters en route to a 19-of-24 figure. The Red Men came through with 12 caused turnovers, led by
Liam O'Connor's four.
Tanner Jones notched a 10-of-19 mark in the center circle, while his counterpart Chase Sparling tallied an 11-of-22 figure for Calvin. Jones, along with
Joe Poremba, paced Carthage with five ground balls.
Red Men goalie
Kyle Guthrie made six saves for the Red Men over 42:06 of action, but it was
Sam Kotsonas who stopped seven shots over just 13:04 of playing time in man-down situations.
Zerik Rodriguez also saw 4:50 of action in net for Carthage. Gerrit Kurtycz made 14 saves in net for the Knights.
The Red Men improve to 8-2, 0-0 CCIW while Calvin falls to 5-4, 0-0 MIAA.
Red Men 14, Calvin 5
Calvin doubled up Carthage with an 8-4 advantage in shots in the first quarter, where both teams battled to a 2-2 score. The Knights wouldn't get even with the Red Men again as second-quarter goals from Poitras and Lindner gave Carthage a 4-3 cushion at halftime, which ended with a holding call on
Liam O'Connor.
Being a man-down to begin the second half didn't faze the Red Men as they erupted with a 9-1 third quarter, where six different players contributed goals en route to a 13-4 score heading into the final 15:00. Both teams traded fourth-quarter goals to make the score final at 14-5 in favor of Carthage.
The Red Men will face Hope College in Holland, Michigan tomorrow, Saturday, March 30 at 2:00 p.m. (ET).
