Tigers Drop Home Opener To Ill. Wesleyan

Springfield, Ohio – The Wittenberg men's lacrosse team battled the Titans of Illinois Wesleyan University in a hard-fought, 20-13 loss on Saturday afternoon. The Tigers were able to strike first in the home opener at Edwards-Maurer Field, but seven unanswered Titan goals in the first quarter proved to be too much to overcome. Senior Jerry Coyle led the Wittenberg offense with four goals on the afternoon, placing 7 of his 12 shots on target. The Tigers move to 1-1 on the season.

Game Breakdown­­

Wittenberg took the early lead on the Cooper Harris goal, assisted by Andrew Ellis. The Red and White cut into the Illinois Wesleyan lead after Coyle slotted his first two goals of the day to start the second period. Lucas Klever found Coyle for the Tigers second goal of the afternoon, before Michael Carluccio connected with Coyle for the third Wittenberg goal. Matthew Welch cut into the Illinois Wesleyan lead with the fourth Wittenberg goal, coming off the feed from Connor Rice. Klever found the back of the net with seven seconds remaining in the half, as the Tigers trailed 10-6 heading into the break. Wittenberg continued to cut into the Titan lead, scoring first out of the half on the Rice goal from Ellis, making it a 10-7 game. Wittenberg was unable to stop an Ill. Wesleyan scoring run midway through the third quarter, as two more Tiger goals cut into the visiting team lead. Wittenberg found the back of the net four more times through the fourth quarter, before falling by a final of 20-13.

Who Stood Out

Anthony LeBarge III led the Tigers picking up 13 ground balls, causing five turnovers on the afternoon. Cam Kennedy added two goals with two ground balls. Quinn McConkey took 14 of 37 faceoff wins for the Tigers on the day and picking up seven ground balls. Paxton Kreger stood strong in goal for the Red and White, making 14 saves against 34 shots.

UP NEXT

The Tigers will travel to Transylvania University on Saturday, Mar. 2 to take on the Pioneers at 2:00 PM.