BLOOMINGTON, Ill.- The Illinois Wesleyan University men's lacrosse team welcomes Carthage College Saturday, April 11 inside Tucci Stadium at 1 p.m. The Titans secured a perfect 2-0 conference record after a 21-12 victory over North Central earlier this week Wednesday, April 7 and advanced to 7-1 on the year. Carthage similarly enters Tucci with a 7-1 overall record and sits at 1-0 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin.

The Titans and Firebirds will meet for the 10th time this Saturday. Carthage holds a slight edge over the Titans with a 5-4 lead in the series, which dates back to the 2014 season. The Titans were originally down 5-0 in the series during the 2017 campaign, before a monumental shift for the Green and White in the CCIW Championship game later that year. IWU took its first win against Carthage in the championship game and went on to win the program's first-ever CCIW title.  Since the CCIW Championship game the Titans have defeated Carthage four straight times.

Faceoff specialist Max Bousky (Peoria, Ill.-Peoria Notre Dame) holds a team-high 0.741 faceoff percentage and leads the team in ground balls with 82. Senior Jory Vance (Milwaukee, Wis.-Wauwatosa East) stands strong for the Titan defense with the team-high 12 caused turnovers and sits third in ground balls with 25.  

IWU's offense continues to impress with junior Rick Smith (Frankfort, Ill.-Lincoln Way East), sophomores Connor Kiichle (Vancouver, Wash.-Skyview) and Carson Kiichle (Vancouver, Wash.-Skyview), and Charles Hildestad (Carlock, Ill.-St.Viator) leading the way with 33, 31, 28, and 27, respectively. Freshman Gage Black (Peoria, Ill.-Dunlap) has stepped up in his first season with Green and White, as he is tied for third in goals with 17, while Smith and Hildestad lead with 21 and 20, respectively. 

The game will be live streamed here, and live stats will be available here.