ELMHURST, ILL.—The Carthage College men's lacrosse team found themselves at Langhorst Field for the second-straight week on Wednesday night, when they squared-off against Elmhurst College in the 2019 CCIW Men's Lacrosse Tournament Semifinal. The Red Men couldn't repeat last season's CCIW Semifinal magic at Elmhurst as they dropped a 21-10 decision to the Bluejays in front of 385 fans.
The Red Men end their 2019 season with a 13-5, 4-2 CCIW record while Elmhurst advances to the 2019 CCIW Men's Lacrosse Tournament Championship Game at Illinois Wesleyan on Saturday, May 4 with an 11-5, 5-1 CCIW record.
Elmhurst 21, Carthage 10
Elmhurst jumped to a 9-1 lead at the 9:49 mark of the second quarter, which provoked a Red Men timeout. Carthage's final five shots of the second quarter all found the back of the net, two of which occurred with a man-up.
Noah Lindner's two goals within that time frame engineered a Carthage 5-2 run to close the half, which cut their deficit to 11-6.
Carthage kept it within five goals two more times until Elmhurst pulled away at the 2:54 mark of the third quarter, where Dan O'Connell's goal sparked a 5-0 run that pushed their lead to 18-8 with 9:40 left in the final frame.
Kyle Guthrie came in relief for
Sam Kotsonas in net for the Red Men at that point, but couldn't register any saves the remainder of the game as Elmhurst tacked on three more goals to secure a 21-10 victory.
Lindner paced Carthage with four goals, while Szun and
Brody Ilstrup each notched a pair.
Griffin Cleary won 13-of-29 faceoffs and tallied eight ground balls. Elmhurst outshot Carthage 56-30, thanks to Ty Funderburk's six-goal game. CCIW Offensive Player of the Year Mac Harden contributed four goals for Elmhurst. Kotsonas made a career-high 14 saves in net for the Red Men, while his counterpart Harry Meredith stopped 10 shots for Elmhurst.
The Red Men's loss to Elmhurst marked the final collegiate games for seniors
Andy Szun,
Jack Schiltz,
Clayton Smith,
Ben Morgan and
Ethan Flight.
