by Eric Willuweit

Chicago, Ill. - Despite playing a more competitive second half in their match against Hope College Wednesday night at Stuart Field, the Illinois Tech men's lacrosse team could not overcome a hot start by the Dutchmen in the first half, as the Scarlet Hawks dropped the non-conference matchup 17-8. The Hawks dropped to 3-3 on the season. The Dutchmen improved to 5-4.

The Dutchmen roared out to an 8-0 lead after the first quarter of play, and tacked on another four goals in the second quarter before the Scarlet Hawks were able to get their first tally to cut their deficit to 12-1. The Dutchmen outshot the Scarlet Hawks 56-32 for the match, and won 25 of 28 faceoffs.

The Scarlet Hawks did bring more competitive play towards the back half of the second quarter, and actually outplayed Hope College in the second half, giving the team something to build on as they begin conference play this Saturday.

First Quarter (Hope College 8 - Illinois Tech 0)

The Dutchmen opened the scoring in the match just over one minute into the opening frame, with an unassisted goal by Blaine Hynde at 13:59. The Dutchmen wound up with seven different players scoring in the first quarter, with Michael Mann scoring a pair.

Second Quarter (Hope College 5 - Illinois Tech 3)

Hope College continued their offensive onslaught into the second quarter, with Mann scoring another pair of goals of the four straight Dutchmen goals to stake them to a 12-0 lead with 4:48 remaining in the quarter. Jackson Brass was finally able to counter for the Scarlet Hawks, with an unassisted tally at 3:24. Fifteen seconds later Reed Tangeman scored a player-up goal on a feed from Brass to cut the deficit to 12-2. Aidan Gans scored the Scarlet Hawks third consecutive goal at 1:33 unassisted. Hope College broke the string with a late goal with 36 seconds remaining to head into halftime with 13-3 lead.

Third Quarter (Illinois Tech 2 - Hope College 2)

In a quarter in which the Scarlet Hawks outshot the Dutchmen 11-8, each team traded a pair of goals in the third quarter. Tangeman started the scoring with his second goal of the match at 11:43. After a Hope tally at 7:19, Gans scored his second goal of the match at 6:05 to cut the Hawks deficit to 14-5. Will Tobias and Hope got that goal back with an unassisted goal at 4:41 to close out the scoring in the quarter, with Hope College heading into the final quarter with a 15-5 lead.

Fourth Quarter (Illinois Tech 3 - Hope College 2)

The final frame was a back and forth affair, with Ryan Arbour scoring on a man-up opportunity, assisted by Yano Porter at 13:45. Owen Huard scored his second goal of the season at 4:26, sandwiched around a pair of goals by Jack McNamara of the Dutchmen. Gans closed out the scoring in the match with his third of the game with 46 seconds remaining.

Scarlet Hawks Standouts

• Gans with 3 goals on 8 shots.
• Tangeman with a pair of goals, and assist and 2 ground balls.
• Porter with 2 assists and 2 ground balls.
• Brass with a goal and an assist.
• Adam Mulka 4 ground balls and 2 caused turnovers.
• Kyle Johnson made 9 saves on 17 shots faced in his second appearance of the season.

Up Next

The Scarlet Hawks begin conference play this Saturday, when they travel to Milwaukee to take on MSOE at 1:00 PM CT in a NACC matchup.