Kodiak Creative

Men’s Lacrosse Sees Game Slip Away in Fourth Quarter

Titans make last stop in Pennsylvania Saturday, March 19

3/16/2022 8:35:00 PM

Box Score

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Illinois Wesleyan University men's lacrosse team was defeated 24-13 at Catholic University Wednesday, March 16. The Titans (3-3) and Catholic (4-2) were both receiving votes in the USILA poll entering today's game.

The Titans jumped off to a good start, scoring the game's first three goals to give IWU a 3-0 advantage. Senior Paul Mucci (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-Bloomfield), junior Carson Kiichle (Vancouver, Wash.-Skyview), and sophomore Gage Black (Peoria, Ill.-Dunlap) scored the first three for the Green and White, respectively.

Catholic turned it around to score six unanswered goals to take the lead, 6-3 with just over five and a half minutes to go in the first quarter.

Senior Rick Smith (Frankfort, Ill.-Lincoln Way East) put an end to Catholic's momentum with a goal of his own to close the gap, 6-4, with around two and a half minutes remaining in the first 15. Connor Kiichle (Vancouver, Wash.-Skyview) followed Smith's lead after beating his defender one-on-one to put the ball in between the legs of the Cardinals keeper.

IWU trailed 6-5 with 1:38 remaining on the clock, but the Cardinals added a goal late to end the first quarter 7-5 for CU.

With just under 10 minutes to go in the half, Catholic extended its lead to four, 9-5 after netting two additional goals.

A shot by Black on a man up-opportunity dinged off the crossbar which led to a Catholic ground ball and later turned into a CU turnover. Carson Kiichle was credited the GB where he found Smith, who put the ball in the net, as IWU still trailed by three, 9-6.

CU reached double digits to push its lead to 10-6. Black answered and put the Titans at seven. Catholic quickly answered back with another goal of their own to lead 11-7 with four minutes to go in the second period.

In a two minute man-up opportunity, Catholic found the gap to tally 12 goals in total to the Titans seven. At the 1:40 mark, sophomore Trystan Seeley (Castle Rock, Colo.-Castle View) scored his first goal of the game, but once again the Cardinals found a way to answer back, ending the half 13-8 in CU's favor.

IWU jumped into the second half, shaving off a penalty and forcing a shot clock violation, which led to Smith, who completed the hat trick, putting the Titans at nine. With 11:08 to go in the third, IWU trails 13-9.

It was not until the 2:47 mark where the Cardinals got their first goal of the half to put them at 14. IWU answered at the one minute mark, as Smith found Carson Kiichle to reach double digits. Seeley also joined in on the fun, as he net the Titans 11th goal with just over 30 seconds remaining.

In the third quarter, IWU closed the deficit and prevented the Cardinals to only one goal in the third, which ended 14-11 for Catholic.

After a hard third-quarter push from the Green and White, the Cardinals pushed right back in the fourth scoring nine unanswered goals, widening the lead to a 12 goal deficit, 23-11.

Around the four minute mark IWU put a stop to the Cardinals run, as Black picked up his hat trick. Two minutes later, junior Everett Carstens (Tigard, Ore.-Tigard) stepped up, scoring his second of the season. With the two goals from Black and Carstens, IWU closed the gap but still trailed by 10, 23-13.

A last minute goal from the Cardinals capped off the scoring as IWU left Washington with a 24-13 loss.

The Titans will complete its east coast trip in Pennsylvania with a date against Grove City College at 2 p.m. ET.

Print Friendly Version