Men’s Lacrosse Hosts Aurora in NCAA First Round

Wednesday’s game time set for 2 p.m.

5/7/2024 10:00:00 AM

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – History will repeat itself when – for the second straight year – the Illinois Wesleyan University men's lacrosse team goes head-to-head with Aurora University in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. The Spartans will come to Bloomington, Ill. for a 2 p.m. game Wednesday, May 8. The winner of Wednesday's contest will advance to the second round to face Tufts University in Schenectady, NY, Saturday, May 11 at 12 p.m. ET.

The Titans are 13-3 on the year after taking down Elmhurst University in overtime dramatics in Saturday's College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Tournament Championship. Senior Gage Black (Peoria, Ill.-Dunlap) put away the game-winning goal to win the program's sixth tournament title, 12-11. Sophomore Noah Dretzka (Delafield, Wis.-Kettle Moraine) led the Green and White with five points while Black totaled four in the win. The CCIW Defensive Player of the Year, Michael Campagna (Arlington Heights, Ill.-Saint Viator) led the Titans with six ground balls and tied the team lead with four caused turnovers alongside Sam Skelton (Portland, Ore.-Franklin). Junior Colin Tervo (West Linn, Ore.-West Linn) earned his 13th win this season as he totaled 18 saves on a .621 save percentage.

Freshman Timothy McHugh (Orland Park, Ill.-Mount Carmel) ranks 26th nationally with his 2.43 assists per game, while the team ranks 18th with 9.75. IWU's 26.63 points per game sit 12th in Division III this season with its overall scoring offense ranking 11th (16.88) compared to Aurora which ranks 34th (14.68).

Aurora carries a 14-5 record into Wednesday's contest with a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference title in tow. The Spartans defeated Concordia University Wisconsin 17-10 in the conference's title game Saturday, May 4 to earn an automatic bid to the national tournament.

No stranger to Tucci Stadium, Aurora will be making its second trip to Bloomington this season as the two teams faced off back in early March when the Titans walked away with a 24-15 victory. Wednesday will mark the sixth NCAA appearance for the Titans and the eighth for the Spartans. This will be the third meeting between the two programs in the NCAA Tournament, with the first being a 19-15 IWU win in 2017 and the most recent being a season ago, May 10, 2023, when IWU defeated AU 19-10.

In all, Illinois Wesleyan holds an 8-4 series advantage over Aurora, having won the last seven meetings.

Admission will be charged for Wednesday's game with the pricing being $5 for adults and $3 for children under the age of 12 and students with a current ID. The contest will be available via live stats with the link available on the men's lacrosse schedule page of iwusports.com or at iwusports.com/coverage. The game will be live streamed on the NCAA website here or by downloading the NCAA Championship Pass on Smart TVs.

The winner of Wednesday's game will advance to the weekend regional hosted by Union in New York to play Tufts Saturday, May 11 at 12 p.m. ET. The full NCAA bracket for the 38-team tournament can be found here.

Make sure to follow along with everything IWU men's lacrosse on Twitter (@iwu_mlax) and Instagram (iwu.mlax).

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