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BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The Illinois Wesleyan University men's lacrosse team fell 15-11 in its season opener to No. 20 Rhodes College, Sunday afternoon, Feb. 16, at Tucci Stadium. The Titans have an 0-1 record while the Lynx saw their record improve to 2-0.

IWU scored the first three goals of the game to take a 3-0 lead with eight minutes to go in the first quarter, but Rhodes responded with six straight goals of its own for a 6-3 advantage with 11:10 to go in the second. The Titans would score a pair of goals and Rhodes would net three more to take a 9-5 lead into halftime.

In the third quarter, the Lynx scored two goals to take an 11-5 lead at 7:10 in the third before the Titans went on a scoring run of their own, getting three in the net to pull within three. IWU was able to trim the Rhodes lead to two twice throughout the rest of the game, but the Lynx held strong as the two teams exchanged goals towards a 15-11 final score.

Freshman Carson Kiichle (Vancouver, Wash.-Skyview HS) scored three goals while sophomore Rick Smith (Frankfort, Ill.-Lincoln Way East HS) tallied two goals and assisted on four others. Senior Ben Arends (Edwards, Ill.-Dunlap HS) and freshman Connor Kiichle (Vancouver, Wash.-Skyview HS) each recorded one goal and one assist.

Junior Max Bousky (Peoria, Ill.-Peoria Notre Dame) won 20 out of his 26 faceoffs and also picked up a career-high 16 ground balls. Fellow junior Will Harris (Bloomington, Minn.-Holy Angels HS) saved a career-high 19 shots as the starting goalkeeper for the Titans.

Rhodes held a 50-49 advantage in shots over IWU and led in shots on goal, 34-31. The Titans picked up 43 ground balls while the Lynx corralled 29.

Next up for the Titans is a road trip to Ohio Wesleyan University, where the game is set for Saturday, Feb. 22. The game is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET.