ELMHURST, ILL.—The Carthage College men's lacrosse team embarked on a Wednesday-night road bout at Elmhurst College with plenty CCIW Tournament implications on the line. The Bluejays' Mac Harden's five goals, six points and game-high 16 shots propelled them to a 17-13 decision over the Red Men at Elmhurst's Langhorst Field.
Newly minted CCIW all-time leading scorer
Andy Szun added five more goals to his resume en route to a seven-point night.
Brody Ilstrup came through with a hat trick and led his team with nine shots while
Danny Rossi rounded out the multiple goal scorers with two for the Red Men.
Samuel Yokobosky was lethal for the Carthage defense with three caused turnovers, while reigning CCIW Defensive Player of the Week
Griffin Cleary won 9-of-30 faceoffs and grabbed six ground balls.
The Bluejays outshot Carthage 51-39. Carthage goalie
Sam Kotsonas played the first 30:00 and made 10 saves before
Kyle Guthrie entered the contest for the final 30:00 and made four saves. Harry Meredith notched 10 saves in net for Elmhurst.
Carthage exits Wednesday tied for third place with Augustana College with a 12-4, 3-2 CCIW mark. Elmhurst sits in second place with a 9-5, 4-1 CCIW record.
Elmhurst 17, Red Men 13
The Bluejays tripled up Carthage for a 21-7 edge in shots throughout the opening quarter, which propelled them to a 7-3 lead. Elmhurst poured more salt on that wound as they won all eight faceoffs in the second quarter, where their possession time resulted in an 18-5 lead in shots en route to a 12-5 halftime lead.
Andy Szun capped the third quarter with his 50
th goal of the season with 0:07 left in the frame, which narrowed his team's margin to 16-7. This proved to be the momentum Carthage utilized in the fourth quarter as they outshot Elmhurst 16-3, and outscored them 6-1 thanks to a pair of man-up goals in the final 15:00. Carthage's 6-0 run to end the game proved too late in a 17-13 setback to the Bluejays.
Carthage will host North Central College (Ill.) in their 2019 regular season finale on Saturday, April 27 at 1:00 p.m.