by Eric Willuweit
River Forest, Ill. - Illinois Tech men's lacrosse used an 8-1 first quarter advantage to power their way to an 18-5 road victory at Concordia Chicago on Wednesday afternoon. The Scarlet Hawks improved to 4-2 in NACC play and 7-5 overall. The winless Cougars dropped to 0-5 in conference play and 0-14 overall.
Jonathan Vitale led the way for the Scarlet Hawks with four first quarter goals, including the last three of the opening quarter, giving the Hawks their 8-1 lead heading into the second quarter. The Scarlet Hawks amassed 61 shots in the match, while winning 17 of 26 faceoffs and holding a 50-29 advantage in ground balls.
First Quarter (Illinois Tech 8 - Concordia Chicago 1)
Illinois Tech got on the board first just over two and half minutes into the opening quarter when Aidan Gans scored on a feed from Ryan Arbour. Vitale followed that up with his first goal of the match just under four minutes later, with Spencer Meace providing the assist. Less than 46 seconds later Jackson Brass scored on a pass from Owen Huard to give the Hawks a 3-0 lead. Jarred Tabor would get Concordia Chicago on the board at the 6:55 mark. Illinois Tech would respond on the ensuing faceoff, with Brass connecting on a feed from Meace for a 4-1 Scarlet Hawks advantage. 41 seconds later Yano Porter would increase the Hawks lead to 5-1, with Brass assisting. Vitale would close out the quarter with three consecutive goals in the final four-plus minutes.
Second Quarter (Illinois Tech 2 - Concordia Chicago 2)
Diego Sosa would score for the Scarlet Hawks, unassisted at the 12:26 mark of the second quarter, giving Illinois Tech six unanswered goals. That would change in the seventh minute, when the Cougars would respond with back-to-back goals, cutting the Scarlet Hawks lead to 9-3. Arbour would score a goal with 37 seconds remaining in the quarter to give Illinois Tech a 10-3 lead heading into the break.
Third Quarter (Illinois Tech 4 - Concordia Chicago 2)
As in the first two quarters, the Scarlet Hawks would again score in the twelfth minute of the third quarter, with Huard taking an Alexander Stokrp feed to put the Hawks up 11-3. Aidan Vizi of Concordia Chicago got that goal back for the Cougars at the 7:45 mark, but less than a minute later Jaeger Breault scored unassisted for a 12-4 Scarlet Hawks advantage. Stokrp and Diego Sosa extended the Hawks lead to 14-4 with a pair of goals25 seconds apart late in the quarter. Justin Headley of Concordia Chicago would get one back for the Cougars with 28 seconds remaining in the quarter to cut their deficit to 14-5.
Fourth Quarter (Illinois Tech 4 - Concordia Chicago 0)
The Scarlet Hawks would provide the only offense of the final quarter, with Ty Dwyer book-ending a pair of goals, with Breault and Sosa netting goals in between.
Scarlet Hawks Standouts
- Vitale lead the team with 4 goals on 5 shots.
- Stokrp with a goal and 3 assists.
- Dwyer with a pair of goals and a pair of assists, to go along with 3 ground balls.
- Breault with a pair of goals and 3 ground balls.
- Kaleab Uebelher with 6 ground balls.
- Gans with a goal, 2 assists and 3 ground balls.
- Juan Bohorquez with 4 ground balls and 2 caused turnovers.
- Nehemyah Green with 6 ground balls and 3 caused turnovers.
Up Next
The Scarlet Hawks will travel to Beloit College on Saturday, April 22nd at 12:00 PM CT for a conference battle with the Buccaneers.