By Jami Sponaugle

Chicago, Ill. - For the first time in program history, the Illinois Tech Scarlet Hawks men's lacrosse team found themselves in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) postseason tournament. Just three days after their last meeting, the second seeded Hawks welcomed the third seeded Concordia University Wisconsin Falcons back to Stuart Field on Tuesday night for the NACC Semifinals. 

After trailing at halftime, the Hawks (10-5, 6-2) came out hungry and turned the game around in their favor. At the final horn, the Hawks secured a 12-10 victory over the Falcons (11-6, 6-2) and clinched their very first appearance in the NACC Championship game.

First Quarter (Illinois Tech 4 - Concordia Wisconsin 5)

• 2 minutes and 41 seconds into the game, the Hawks scored the first goal of the contest when Spencer Meace found the back of the net on an unassisted play. Receiving the ball just past half field, Meace faked a pass before sprinting towards the goal and firing a shot right past the Falcons goalkeeper to put the Hawks on top. 

• 58 seconds later, the Hawks went up 2-0 when Reed Tangeman scored an unassisted goal. With a Falcon defender on him, Tangeman spun and ripped a shot into the back of the net. 

• The Falcons then tied the game with goals at 10:49 and 9:56 by Max Esposito and Gio Nowotarski respectively. 

• Yano Porter put the Hawks back on top at the 8:17 mark in the first quarter off an Aidan Gans assist. Gans found a wide open Porter just to the side of the goal and sent him the ball. Porter received and quickly sent the ball into the back of the net to make the game 3-2 in favor of the Hawks. 

• Within a minute, the Falcons tied the game at 3-3 with a goal by Pat Ryan. 

• Porter then assisted Ryan Arbour for the Hawks fourth goal of the game at the 3:20 mark. Porter, who was behind the goal, sent the ball to a wide open Arbour. With a defender sprinting at him, Arbour fired a shot from distance straight past the Falcons goalkeeper, putting the Hawks up 4-3. 

• With less than a minute left in the first quarter, the Falcons added on two goals to take the lead. At the 37 second mark, Ryan scored to tie the game Espositio then scored with 5 seconds left to give the Falcons a 5-4 lead. 

Second Quarter (Illinois Tech 2 - Concordia Wisconsin 2)

• In the second quarter at 13:08, Meace scored his second goal of the game, once again unassisted. While mid-run, Meace scored with a shot to the side of the net to tie the game at 5-5. 

• The Falcons then tied the game before taking the lead with goals at 9:44 and 3:22 by Nowotarski and Matthew Sierzega respectively.

• Just before halftime, Brass scored a goal with 18 seconds on the clock off a Tangeman assist to make it a one-goal game. As Tangeman headed towards goal, he flicked the ball off to Brass who quickly shot the ball to put the Hawks within one. 

Third Quarter (Illinois Tech 3 - Concordia Wisconsin 0)

• Using halftime to their advantage, the Hawks made the necessary adjustments to come out hot in the third quarter and hold the Falcons scoreless while taking the lead. 

• At 14:01, Vitale got the second half of action underway with a goal off a Porter assist. Porter, who was behind the goal, sent the ball towards Vitale, who was in front of the net and quickly shot it to tie the game at 7-7. 

• The Hawks took the lead for the rest of the game when Brass scored an unassisted goal at the 11:12 mark. 

• Brass then recorded a hat-trick with another unassisted goal at 9:51. Marking the final goal of the quarter, Brass scored from distance to make the game 9-7 in favor of the Hawks. 

Fourth Quarter (Illinois Tech 3 - Concordia Wisconsin 3)

• In the final quarter of action, Brass kicked things off with his fourth goal of the game, third unassisted at 14:05. 

• Gans then made the game 11-7 at 6:06 with an unassisted goal into the lower left corner. 

• Vitale netted the Hawks last goal of the game off a Porter assist at the 5:52 mark. Vitale, who was wide open and right on the left post of the goal, received the ball from Porter and sent the ball into the back of the net with a diving shot. Here the Hawks led the Falcons 12-7. 

• Before the final horn, the Falcons were able to add on three goals. The goals came at 3:08 by Jack Gtomosky, at 0:42 by Espostio and lastly at 0:06 by Nowotarski. 

• As the final horn sounded, the Hawks took off sprinting towards goalkeeper Zane Handy to celebrate the 12-10 victory and a spot in the NACC Championship game! 

Scarlet Hawk Standouts

• Jackson Brass led the Hawks in goals with 4. Brass finished the game with 11 shots, 5 on goal and 2 ground balls. 

• Jonathan Vitale netted 2 goals with all three of his shots on goal. Vitale added 1 ground ball and 1 caused turnover to his stats. 

• Spencer Meace ended the game with 2 goals. Meace scored his two goals on frame out of four shots and had 1 ground ball and 2 caused turnovers. 

• Zane Handy played a huge role in the Hawks victory in net, recording 24 saves on the 34 shots he faced. 

Falcons Standouts

• Max Esposito had a hat-trick for the Falcons. Esposito finished with 6 shots, 4 on goal, 1 ground ball, and 1 caused turnover. 

• Gio Nowotarski also had a hat-trick during the contest. Nowotarski tallied 14 shots and 9 on goal.

Inside the Box Score

• The Hawks finished the game with 35 shots, 18 on goal versus the Falcons 53 shots, 34 on goal. 

• The Falcons edged the Hawks in ground balls 28-24 .

• The Hawks had 21 turnovers compared to the Falcons 14.

• In clears, the Hawks were 22-of-25 while the Falcons were 15-of-18. 

• The Falcons held the majority of face off wins with 16-of-24. 

Head Coach Dan Sharbaugh Comments

"It's one of the more difficult things to do in sports to beat a good team twice, let alone in a three day span, but I was very proud of how our guys were able to focus on the individual plays and small details to come out on top. I thought we played very tight in the first half and came out of halftime with a much looser, calmer demeanor which allowed us to get back in our rhythm. CUW is a team and coaching staff we respect immensely and knew they would come out ready, and they did. I'm so proud of how our team weathered the early storm and continued to make small plays throughout the game tonight. I'm excited for our guys to get another couple days with one another." 

Up Next

The Hawks opponent for the NACC Championship game will be decided on Wednesday. The Hawks will either take on the Aurora University Spartans (13-4, 8-0) or the Benedictine University Eagles (5-11, 5-3). The game will take place on Saturday, but the time and location of the championship will be determined at the conclusion of the Spartans vs Eagles game.