by Eric Willuweit

Milwaukee, Wis. - In a trend that has extended to three consecutive games, the Illinois Tech men's lacrosse team could not overcome a slow first-half start, as they found themselves trailing MSOE 8-3 at the break en route to a 14-9 defeat to MSOE Saturday afternoon in Milwaukee in the conference-opener. The Scarlet Hawks start NACC play 0-1 and drop to 3-4 overall. MSOE starts 1-0 and improves to 3-3 overall.

The Scarlet Hawks have lost three consecutive matches, and in each case they have trailed significantly at the half. The Hawks have also mounted significantly better efforts in the second half of each of those three matches, but the early deficits have proved too much to overcome. Faceoffs played a huge part in the MSOE victory, as the Raiders held a 21-6 advantage in the circle.

First Quarter (MSOE 3 - Illinois Tech 0)

MSOE had the better of play and all the scoring in the opening quarter, with Peter Russchenberg opening the scoring just under two minutes into the match, and Sam Thompson scoring a pair of goals in a span of 1:54 midway through the quarter.

Second Quarter (MSOE 5 - Illinois Tech 3)

The Raiders extended their lead with a pair of goals early in the quarter, with Russchenberg adding his second tally 33 seconds into the second frame, and Tanner Whips scoring unassisted at 11:17. The Scarlet Hawks were finally able to get on the board at the 7:37 mark, with Reed Tangeman scoring unassited during a man-up advantage to cut the deficit to 5-1. The Raiders would answer less than a minute later with Thompson picking up his third goal of the match at 6:47, followed by another MSOE tally at 5:35 by Soren Savard. Tangeman would score again 23 seconds later to pull within five at 7-2. The Scarlet Hawks were able to take advantage of another man-up opportunity late in the quarter, with Alexander Stokrp scoring on a feed from Tangeman with 39 seconds remaining. On the ensuing faceoff, MSOE won control and called a timeout with 28 seconds remaining. After their huddle, the Raiders' Sean Roberts was able to score with eight seconds remaining to give MSOE an 8-3 lead at halftime.

Third Quarter (MSOE 4 - Illinois Tech 2)

The Scarlet Hawks would strike first in the second half, with Spencer Meace scoring unassisted 34 seconds into the third quarter to cut the Hawks' deficit in half, 8-4. The momentum was short-lived however, as MSOE would score four straight goals in less than three minutes time to extend their lead to 12-4. The Scarlet Hawks would get a Jonathan Vitale (assist Aidan Gans) goal at 6:40 to close out the third quarter trailing 12-5.

Fourth Quarter (Illinois Tech 4 - MSOE 2)

The teams played scoreless for nearly the first seven minutes of the fourth quarter before MSOE broke the ice when Thompson scored his fourth goal of the match at the 8:19 mark. Jackson Brass would counter for the Hawks at 7:09 on a feed from Gans, but Russchenberg would score his fourth of the match less than a minute later. The Scarlet Hawks would score three goals in the final three minutes of the fourth quarter, with Gans picking up a pair of tallies along with Owen Huard closing out the scoring with a goal at the 1:16 mark.

Scarlet Hawks Standouts

• Tangeman with two goals and an assist.
• Gans with two goals and two assists.
• Ryan Arbour with 3 ground balls and 2 caused turnovers.
• Meace with 1 goal, 1 assist, and 3 ground balls.
• Seamus Kinealy with 3 ground balls and 2 caused turnovers.

Next Up

The Scarlet Hawks will return to Stuart Field on Wednesday at 7:00 PM CT when they host Aurora University in another NACC contest.