HOLLAND, MICH.—A two-game Michigan road trip concluded with a Saturday-afternoon outing at Hope College for the Carthage College men's lacrosse team. Six lead changes occurred throughout the contest, and Liam O'Connor played his role in putting an end to the back-and-forth play for Carthage with 9:53 left in the game when he tallied a ground ball off an ensuing Hope turnover. It set up Colin Poitras's goal at the 9:39 mark of the fourth that gave Carthage a 15-14 lead they didn't surrender in an 18-16 win over the Flying Dutchmen.
 
O'Connor, who had the game of his life with five caused turnovers and six ground balls, engineered a Carthage defensive unit that posted a season-high 16. Joe Poremba was also an integral part of the defensive troops with four caused turnovers and a team-high eight ground balls.
 
Hope outshot Carthage 46-34 in the contest, but Noah Lindner and Colin Poitras did their part with a game-high eight shots each that resulted in five-point games. Poitras notched five goals while Lindner tallied four goals and one assist.  Brody Ilstrup contributed three goals and one assist to the Red Men offense.
 
Carthage was nearly flawless on clears with a 22-of-24 mark. Tanner Jones and Liam O'Connor split reps in the face-off circle, where they combined for a 15-of-38 ratio.
 
Kyle Guthrie got the start in net for the Red Men, and made six saves over 22:42 of action. Sam Kotsonas came in relief for good with 5:16 left in the third, where he was credited the win with nine saves for Carthage. 
 
The Red Men were assessed eight of the 13 infractions called in the contest.
 
The Red Men improve to 9-2 while Hope drops to 6-3.
 
Red Men 18, Hope 16
 
Hope doubled Carthage for a 12-6 edge in shots, which resulted in the Flying Dutchmen's 4-3 lead after 15:00. Hope opened the second with a 6-1 edge in shots en route to a 6-4 lead with 10:09 left in the second. Two more lead changes took place from that point through the second frame. Carthage took a 7-6 lead at the 8:26 mark thanks to a 3-0 run, which proved short-lived as three Red Men turnovers turned into Hope goals, resulting in their 9-7 lead with 2:08 left in the second. Goals from Szun and Danny Rossi knotted the game 9-9 at halftime.
 
Hope came back with a big third quarter that saw them out shoot Carthage 15-7, which helped them claim a 13-12 lead heading into the final 15:00. It was an advantage Hope held onto until O'Connor's ground ball at the 9:53 mark of the fourth changed the game's tempo, which set-up Poitras's goal with 9:39 on the clock that gave Carthage the lead for good at 15-14. Poitras also iced the game with the game's final goal with 1:13 left to make the score final at 18-16.
 
The Red Men will open CCIW play at Art Keller Field on Saturday, April 6 against Illinois Wesleyan at 12:00 p.m.