KENOSHA, Wis. — Facing a Hope College team that received votes in the latest national poll, the Carthage men's lacrosse team fell 16-7 on Saturday at Art Keller Field.
The visitors were first on the board minutes into the match, before George Burchfield scored to even the score at one with 10:10 on the clock. After Hope (6-2) scored three unanswered, the Firebirds (6-3) got one back as Andrew Johnson scored to make it 4-2, before the two teams traded goals in the final moments of the first quarter, making it 5-3. The visitors added two goals to begin the second quarter, before Alec Gern netted a shot to make it 7-4. Hope would hold an 8-4 lead on the Firebirds at the halftime break.
The visitors added four more goals in the third quarter, as Michael Stell, Gern, and Burchfield found the back of the net for the Firebirds. Trailing by five entering the final period, Carthage would go on to drop a nine point match to a tough Hope team.
Up next for the Firebirds is a home contest against Benedictine on Wednesday, March 30 at 7:30 p.m.
"Today was about possessions. Between our 10 failed clears and the deficit at X, we gave up about thirty possessions. You can't do that and win. We can live with the faceoffs but the clearing was unacceptable, and ultimately that falls on me. At some point though, we have to stop making the same mistakes and decisions from one game to the next, and we need more team accountability there."
"Hope is a senior-laden team with all-American and all-region players driving their offense and they showed their experience today. Conversely, we showed our youth and never really settled in. While the guys fought hard and never quit, we never handled things well under pressure and we let our emotions get us in trouble again. I think we gave up four goals between the free plays off the flag down, and the three man-ups, and that's again, just a lack of discipline. We only hurt ourselves when we lose our focus."
"We knew that to win we had to really value the ball and we just did not do that on either end. Hope's composure throughout the game and ability to manage their possessions was the difference. We have the opportunity to clean these things up for Wednesday and next Saturday. If we can do that I think we will get back on track."
Quick Facts
- The team leader in both ground balls and caused turnovers, Sam Wallace led the charge defensively today with five ground balls and three caused turnovers.
- Second on the team in total points, George Burchfield finished with three today on a pair of goals and one assist.
- In his 22 career games played at Carthage so far, Andrew Johnson has scored a goal in every contest.
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