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Bloomington, IL - April 20 - NCAA Men's Lacrosse: Illinois Wesleyan vs Elmhurst (Photo by Jimmy Naprstek/Kodiak Creative)
Kodiak Creative
13
Winner Ill. Wesleyan IWU 3-0
7
Aurora AURORA 0-1
Winner
Ill. Wesleyan IWU
3-0
13
Final
7
Aurora AURORA
0-1
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 4 4 4 1 13
Aurora AURORA 2 1 1 3 7

Game Recap: Men's Lacrosse |

Men’s Lacrosse Cruises Past Aurora

Titans move to 3-0 on the season

MONTGOMERY, Ill. – The Illinois Wesleyan University men's lacrosse team continued its hot start to the season with a 13-7 win over Aurora University Saturday, Feb. 22 in Montgomery, Ill. The Titans move ahead to 3-0 on the season while the Spartans were handed the loss in their season opener. 

Sophomore Timothy McHugh (Orland Park, Ill.-Mount Carmel) led the Titans with four points by way of one goal and a team-high three assists. Senior Ike Eastburn (Colorado Springs, Colo.-Cheyenne Mountain) led the team with three goals, while senior John Kittoe (Waunakee, Wis.-Waunakee), fifth-year Gage Black (Peoria, Ill.-Dunlap), and juniors Sam Weinberg (Highwood, Ill.-Oak Park River Forest) and Noah Dretzka (Delafield, Wis.-Kettle Moraine) tallied two apiece.

Seniors Nick Horrocks (Boulder, Colo.-Fairview) and Sam Skelton (Portland, Ore.-Franklin) led the defensive effort in front of senior goalie Colin Tervo (West Linn, Ore.-West Linn). Horrocks notched four caused turnovers and three ground balls, while Skelton finished with three caused turnovers and two scoops. Tervo was tremendous in goal, making 19 saves as Aurora held a 44-35 lead in shots. 

Senior Nick Schroeder (Waunakee, Wis.-Waunakee) scooped up a team-high five ground balls and went 8-for-15 at the X. Junior Michael Rocco (Libertyville, Ill.-Libertyville) finished 4-for-5 in faceoffs.

The Titans dominated the stats sheet beating out the Spartans in assists (8-4), ground balls (21-12), saves (19-11), clears (25-18), and faceoffs (13-9). AU took 44 shots to IWU's 35, and Aurora saw three more turnovers than the Titans 28-25. 

Illinois Wesleyan wasted no time as Schroeder won the game's initial faceoff and quickly got a pass off to McHugh. Allowing things to develop, McHugh hit Weinberg on the opposite side for a goal just eight seconds in to give IWU a 1-0 edge.

Aurora tied it with a goal at the 10:18 mark, but Black flew by his defender and cut straight towards the goal before unleashing a shot for a 2-1 Titan lead.

Kittoe capitalized on a wide-open shot on an assist from junior Karsten Nordlie (Roscoe, Ill.-Hononegah Community) for a man-up goal, but the Spartans answered to keep it a one-goal game, 3-2, with 4:43 left in the first quarter.

Illinois Wesleyan finished off the scoring with a long-range rip from Boone as IWU closed the first quarter with a 4-2 advantage.

The Titans kept the momentum in the second with Eastburn finding the back of the net from the edge of the crease just over three minutes in. A minute later, Kittoe scored his second goal of the day, this time off junior Cole Kennedy's (Walnut Creek, Calif.-De La Salle) helper, to double up AU, 6-3, with 10:59 left in the half.

After Dretzka shook loose a defender and scored, the Green and White had the Spartan defense absolutely discombobulated and took full advantage. With the Aurora defense well behind him, Black sped through the midfield and broke away for a goal to send the Titans into the break with an 8-3 lead.

Taking advantage of a failed clear attempt  by AU, Dretzka came through on a spin move goal to stretch the lead to six. Aurora managed a goal but it did little to thwart the efforts of Eastburn who notched back-to-back goals off the assists from Nordlie and McHugh to lead 11-4. 

Weinberg finessed a behind-the-back goal with the helper from Kittoe to carry a 12-4 advantage into the final 15 minutes. 

AU kicked off the final period with a pair of goals but McHugh disrupted the Spartan efforts just a minute later with a goal of his own, moving ahead 13-6. Aurora managed one more goal with 11:44 left to play, but IWU would ultimately claim the 13-7 victory over the Spartans. 

Illinois Wesleyan returns to the suburbs next Wednesday, Feb. 26 as they take on Benedictine University in Lisle, Ill. at 6 p.m.
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