UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Ohio -- The Illinois Men's Lacrosse team survived a three-goal comeback effort to win 17-15 against John Carroll University on Friday, March 17 from Don Shula Stadium. Senior Michael Julius led the team with a season-high seven points which included five goals and two assists.

With a win the Titans improved 4-2 on the season heading into their first conference game against University of Dubuque. The Blue Streaks fell to 2-4 following the loss.

After falling behind 6-4 in the first quarter, the Titans outscored John Carroll 5-3 in the second to tie the game at nine heading into halftime. Junior James Maibuecher scored one of his two first half goals with 1:45 remaining in the half to knot the game up.

IWU built a narrow lead in the third, outscoring the Blue Streaks 5-3. John Carroll struck first in the second half though, scoring the first two goals of the third period to take an 11-9 lead. The Titans outscored John Carroll 5-1 over the final four minutes of the quarter to hold the lead heading into the final quarter. 

The Titans held as large as a four-goal lead with 13:22 to play following senior Tim Smith's third goal of the afternoon. John Carroll started to mount their comeback with less than two minutes to play, scoring two consecutive goals to pull within one of IWU. Hanging onto a 16-15 margin, freshman Alex Doorenboos found the back of the net with 31 second to play in order to secure the victory.

Illinois Wesleyan out-shot the Blue Streaks 54-39 and held a 35-25 shots on goal advantage throughout the contest. Junior Nick Winter led the team with three assists against the Blue Streaks, while sophomore J.C. Grabarek led the team with seven ground balls and won 17-of-29 face-offs.

Defensively, the Titans held John Carroll to 18-of-30 clearance attempts, well below their season average of .758 percent. In goal, senior Steven Laduzinsky made 10 saves on 39 shots faced.

What's Next?
The Titans are back at home on Wednesday, March 22 where they will open conference play against University of Dubuque from Tucci Stadium at 7:30 p.m. UD currently holds a record of 2-3, but will face Concordia University-Chicago on Saturday, March 18 prior to making the trip to Bloomington.