By Jami Sponaugle

Chicago, Ill. - On Stuart Field for their 2023 home opener, the Illinois Tech Scarlet Hawks men's lacrosse team took on the Hendrix College Warriors in a non-conference match-up. 

The Warriors (5-5) went up early, and held the lead for the entirety of the game while the Hawks (3-2) fought to keep the game within reach. At the final horn, the Hawks fell to the visiting Warriors 17-11. 

First Quarter (Hendrix 3 - Illinois Tech 1)

• The Hawks scored the first goal of the game at the 10:53 mark when Ryan Arbour found the back of the net. After receiving the ball, Arbour beat his defender and took a diving shot with another coming at him. Arbour was able to fire the ball into the back of the net to put the Hawks up 1-0 over the Warriors. 

• Then, between 10:18 and the remainder of the quarter, the Warriors tallied three goals, two of which came from Maximus LaMendola. The Warriors led 3-1 at the end of the first quarter. 

Second Quarter (Hendrix 5  - Illinois Tech 2)

• Goals for Hendrix continued to come in the beginning of the second quarter as they scored back-to-back goals at 14:47 and 13:41. Here, the Warriors held a 5-1 lead. 

• Reed Tangeman then scored back-to-back goals for the Hawks at 11:58 and 6:18 to make the score 5-3. On the first goal, Yano Porter earned the assist as he passed the ball off to Tangeman who quickly shot it straight past the Warriors goalkeeper. For the second goal Tangeman beat his defender 1v1 and shot the ball into the lower left corner to record his second of the game. 

• The Warriors closed out the second quarter with three goals between 5:23 and 1:14. At halftime, the Warriors led the Hawks 8-3.

Third Quarter (Hendrix 3 - Illinois Tech 5)

• In a man-up situation, the Warriors scored at the 13 minute mark to take a 9-3 lead. 

• Spencer Meace gave the Hawks their fourth goal of the contest at 10:33. Receiving the ball at the top of the Hawks offensive third, Meace charged into open space, beating one defender, and with another coming straight at him, Meace fired off a shot straight into the back of the net. 

• Hendrix would add one before the Hawks Johnathan Vitale scored at the 8:12 mark. Vitale's unassisted goal came as he ran from behind the net towards the post with a defender on him. Vitale was able to sneak the ball into the goal to make the score 10-5 in favor of the Warriors. 

• The Warriors last goal came at the 7:24 mark as they took a 11-5 lead. 

• Diego Sosa then scored back-to-back goals followed by a Vitale goal to close out the quarter. Sosa's first came at 2:02. Faking out a defender with a shot, Sosa took a few steps forward into open space and scored with a powerful shot straight over the keeper's shoulder. Sosa's second goal came with 19 seconds remaining. Sosa ran into space straight in front of goal, and with three defenders closing in on him, sent a shot into the lower right corner for the Hawks seventh goal of the game. Then, with just two seconds remaining, Vitale scored the Hawks eighth goal. As Vitale was mid-spin move and falling to the ground, he was able to get enough power behind his shot to score and make it a 11-8 game. 

Fourth Quarter (Hendrix 6 - Illinois Tech 3)

• In the final quarter, the Warriors began play with two goals, one coming at 11:51 and one at 10:03 as they took a 13-8 lead. 

• Tangeman scored his third of the game, recording a hat-trick and 9:08 off a Porter assist. Porter was able to find a wide open Tangeman who ripped off a shot to give the Hawks their ninth goal.

• Aidan Gans joined in on the goal scoring at 8:40 in a man-up situation. With a defender diving in front of him, Gans scored with a shot just right of the keeper. Here, the Hawks trailed the Warriors 13-10. 

• At 6:48, the Warriors scored to make the game 14-10. 

• The Hawks last goal of the game was scored at 5:04 remaining from Vitale, who recorded a hat-trick off a Jackson Brass assist. Brass found Vitale wide open in-front of the net. As Vitale received the ball, he fell to his knees before popping up to send the ball into the net. 

• Hendrix closed out the game with goals at 3:59, 2:29, and in a man-up situation with 2 seconds remaining. At the final whistle, the visiting Warriors defeated the Hawks 17-11.  

Scarlet Hawk Standouts

• Reed Tangeman finished with a hat-trick while recording 7 shots.

• Jonathan Vitale also picked up a hat-trick while recording 4 shots. Vitale added 1 ground ball and 1 caused turnovers. 

Warriors Standouts

• Maximus LaMendola led the Warriors with 6 goals and picked up 1 assist.

• Klaus Rowan followed with 5 goals, 1 assist. Rowan added 1 ground ball and 1 caused turnover. 

• Spencer Dorfneilsen led with 6 assists while picking up a hat-trick, 2 ground balls, and 1 caused turnover.

Inside the Box Score

• The Hawks outshot the Warriors 45-40, but only had 22 shots on goal compared to the Warriors 24. 

• Hendrix led in face-offs, picking up 18 compared to the Hawks 13. 

• Ground balls were pretty even between the two sides, with the Warriors edging the Hawks 25-24. 

• Both sides had 9 caused turnovers. 

Head Coach Dan Sharbaugh Comments

"I really felt like the effort from our team was there today, we just weren't able to overcome an early run by Hendrix. Credit to them, every time we got something going it felt like they answered. I was impressed with our compete level, but we need to finish the chances we get a little more consistently." 

Up Next

The Hawks return to action on the 29th when they welcome the Hope College Flying Dutchmen to Stuart Field for a 7:00 p.m. non-conference contest.