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Men's Lacrosse Downs Cornell College In Thrilling Season Opener

Jackson Brass(12) on the attack prior to his game-tying goal in the fourth quarter during the Scarlet Hawks 9-7 win over Cornell College Saturday, March 5th at Stuart Field. (photo by Sarah Thomas)
Jackson Brass(12) on the attack prior to his game-tying goal in the fourth quarter during the Scarlet Hawks 9-7 win over Cornell College Saturday, March 5th at Stuart Field. (photo by Sarah Thomas)

Chicago, Ill. - In a roller coaster of a season-opener, the Illinois Tech men's lacrosse team jumped out to a 4-0 start in the first quarter, found themselves trailing by two goals midway through the fourth quarter, and finished with four unanswered goals to defeat Cornell College 9-7 Saturday afternoon at a sun-splashed Stuart Field. The Scarlet Hawks start the season 1-0. The Rams fell to 2-2 on the season.

Jackson Brass scored the game-tying goal with 2:25 remaining in the fourth, and James Enterline netted the game-winner 25 seconds later. Brass finished the scoring with an empty-net goal with 13 seconds remaining.

The Hawks stormed out to a 2-0 lead just over two minutes into the first quarter on goals by Brock Melanson and Reed Tangeman. Yano Porter and Melanson added goals later in the opening quarter en route to their 4-0 lead.

The Rams Rams responded in the second quarter with a pair of goals from Matt Norwood and Kyle Jussila each, while Yano Porter provided the Hawk's lone tally to provide Illinois Tech with a 5-4 lead heading into halftime.

Cornell continued to carry the play in the second half, with two early goals in the third quarter giving the Rams a 6-5 lead heading into the fourth quarter. Norwood scored again with 7:58 remaining in the final quarter to give Cornell a 7-5 lead.

Porter scored his third goal of the match with 4:41 remaining to pull the Hawks within one at 7-6, setting up the dramatic finish in the final minutes.

Scarlet Hawks Watch

  • Porter finished with three goals
  • Melanson had two goals, two assists and a caused turnover.
  • Brass had two goals
  • Tangeman had a goal, an assist, two ground balls and a caused turnover
  • Zane Handy finished with 10 saves in the contest

Rams Watch

  • Norwood had three goals
  • Jussila had two goals and an assist
  • John Lindeman had a goal and two assists
  • Ash Hoelscher finished with 5 ground balls

Inside The Box Score

  • Seven of the nine Scarlet Hawks goals were scored by first-year players (Melanson, Brass and Porter)
  • Cornell won 14 of 19 face-offs

Up Next

  • The Scarlet Hawks travel to Holland, Michigan Tuesday night for a non-conference match with Hope College at 6pm CT.