CHICAGO—It's a dream come true for most coaches, players, administrators and other staff to be apart of a first-year collegiate program. That came to fruition at Stuart Field on Saturday afternoon as the Illinois Institute of Technology men's lacrosse team welcomed University of Northwestern (MN.) to Chicago for their inaugural game. The Scarlet Hawks torched five 4th-quarter goals and came up even with the Eagles in shots (49-49), but fell short in a 21-7 loss.
Northwestern improves to 1-0, 1-0 MLC while Illinois Tech falls to 0-1, 0-1 MLC.
"Obviously we are a little disappointed with how the game played out," said IIT head men's lacrosse coach Dan Sharbaugh. "I thought there were bright spots but definitely some areas that need to be improved, which is expected as a new program. We saw a little bit of early-season jitters from some areas, but definitely a lot of correctable mistakes that we will be working on in the coming days."
Noah Vander Kooi, who finished the game with seven goals and five assists for Northwestern, notched a hat trick within the opening five minutes to give his team a 3-0 edge with 10:51 left in the opening quarter. This was the ignition IIT needed as Reed Tangeman entrenched his name into the school's record book for an eternity as he tallied the program's first goal with 7:31 left in the first to narrow the deficit to 3-1. Tangeman added another goal with 9:20 left in the second, but it didn't propel IIT as they found themselves trailing 12-2 at halftime.
Aidan Gans (two), Jonathan Sorg, Wedge Lazenby, and Spencer Meace each contributed goals for IIT in the fourth quarter before they ended things with a 21-7 loss.
Christopher Stone won six face-offs for the Scarlet Hawks, while Jonathan Sorg led the way with 13 shots. Nehemyah Green and Meace each tallied four ground balls for IIT.
Jack Coyle James Enterline and Dominic Reed combined to make 15 saves in net for the Scarlet Hawks. Goalie Jakob Bakken tallied 16 saves in the win for Northwestern.
IIT will host Beloit College on Tuesday, March 10 at 6:00 p.m.
MLAX | A few scenes from today's inaugural game vs. Northwestern (MN.) at Stuart Field!! The Scarlet Hawks registered five 4th-quarter goals in their 21-7 loss to the Eagles. Very proud!!! ���� pic.twitter.com/SjUWDUjQNh
— Illinois Tech Athletics (@ILTechAthletics) February 29, 2020