KENOSHA — The Carthage College men's lacrosse team rallied late and pulled within one goal early in the fourth quarter Saturday. Still, the Firebirds could not overcome a first-quarter deficit in a 13-11 setback at Art Keller Field.

• Final Score: Lake Forest 13 - Carthage 11
• Location: Kenosha, Wisconsin - Art Keller Field
• Records: Lake Forest 1-0, Carthage 1-1

• The visitors opened the afternoon with four straight goals in the opening 10 minutes to seize control. 
• Kyle Carollo put Carthage on the board with an unassisted goal at 3:59 of the first quarter, though the Firebirds trailed 5-1 after one period.
• The margin grew to five early in the second before Carthage found momentum. Jake Westland converted a feed from Alex Bailey midway through the quarter, and Rye Taylor scored a man-up goal with 19 seconds left before halftime to make it 8-3 at the break.
• Carthage tightened the game in the third quarter. Andy Slattery scored early in the period, then Westland and Carollo added goals during a sustained push that cut the deficit to 9-6 entering the fourth.
• Westland opened the final quarter with another score, and Brandon Sawicki followed less than a minute later off a Bailey assist to bring the Firebirds within 9-8 with more than 11 minutes remaining. 
• The visitors answered with a three-goal run, however, rebuilding a four-goal cushion.
• The Firebirds kept pressing late. Sawicki scored again, Carollo added his third goal, and Angelo Cullen found the net in the final minute, but Carthage could not complete the comeback.

• Jake Westland and Kyle Carollo both recorded hat tricks, while Brandon Sawicki finished with two goals, and Alex Bailey tallied two assists.
• Westland recorded three assists for six points on the day. 
• In goal, Jake Williamson recorded 14 saves throughout the contest. 

"Well, not the result we wanted, and as well as Lake Forest played, we just made too many self-inflicted and mental mistakes today to win a good game. Those have a cumulative effect over the course of 60 minutes and were just too much to chase down. Offensively, I thought we got a little better as the game went on, and we are still figuring out the pieces. Defensively, the adjustments we made after the first bought us some time to get back, but we were too passive against a good shooting team and didn't play well in our on ball match ups. Good opportunity to learn and get better, though, and next week will be tough with a doubleheader weekend."

• Carthage stays at home playing DePauw on Saturday, February 21, at noon.