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Men’s Lacrosse Falls in NACC Championship - Concludes 2023 Season

Photo by Sarah Thomas
Photo by Sarah Thomas

Game Leaders

Aurora
G: 4 Players (#6, #34, #43, #48) - 3
A: Brody Macdonald - 3
Sv: Phillip Gianelle - 7
GB: Eli Etzler - 8
Illinois Tech
G: 4 Players (#3, #11, #15, #17) - 1
A: 2 Players (#3, #12) - 1
Sv: Zane Handy - 22
GB: Zane Handy - 6

Team Stats

Illinois Tech
Aurora

Shots

30
62

Ground Balls

27
46

Saves

23
12

Clears

22-27
22-24

Turnovers

22
16

Face Offs Won

7
22

Man Up

2-4
2-3
full stats
Posted: May 06, 2023

By Jami Sponaugle

Aurora, Ill. - In their first Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) Championship appearance in program history, the Illinois Tech Scarlet Hawks men's lacrosse team took on the Aurora University Spartans. Unfortunately for the Hawks (10-6, 6-2), the conference undefeated Spartans (15-4, 8-0) came out hot and didn't let up, leading to a 22-4 final score. 

First Quarter (Aurora 7 - Illinois Tech 0)

  • Throughout the first quarter, the Spartans found the back of the net seven times. Goals came at 14:50, 14:13, 12:57, 11:30, 10:49, 5:31, and 3:46.

Second Quarter (Aurora 8 - Illinois Tech 1)

  • During the second quarter, the Spartans scored at 14:02, 10:06, 9:22, and 7:38 to take an 11-0 lead.

  • The Hawks scored their first of the game at the 4:21 mark in a man-up situation. Jackson Brass earned the assist on the goal when he passed the ball off to Reed Tangeman who found the back of the net with a quick shot. Here the Hawks trailed the Spartans 11-1. 

  • Before halftime, the Spartans added to their total with goals at 2:47, 2:04, 0:23, and 0:03. At halftime, the Spartnas led the championship game 15-1. 

Third Quarter (Aurora 3 - Illinois Tech 2)

  • The third quarter started in favor of the Spartans, who put in goals at 7:08, 5:17, and 3:32 to take a 18-1 lead. 

  • Before the end of the quarter, the Hawks were able to add two goals. The first came from Aidan Gans. Unassisted, Gans pushed his way towards goal and scored at the 2:06 mark. With 0:04 remaining, Yano Porter scored an unassisted goal. Porter was able to sneak the shot past the Spartans goalkeeper to close out the quarter. The Spartans led 18-3. 

Fourth Quarter (Aurora 4 - Illinois Tech 1)

  • The Hawks scored their final goal at the 11:50 mark in the fourth quarter in a man-up situation. Owen Huard scored off a Tangeman assist. Huard was standing with his back towards the goal with multiple Spartans around him, but Tangeman was able to fire in a pass to him. Huard received the pass, immediately spun, and found the back of the net for the Hawks fourth goal. 

  • By the end of the game, the Spartans found the back of the net four more times. Goals were scored at 10:41, 8:41, 7:54, and 0:15, giving the Sparans the 22-4 NACC Championship victory. 

Scarlet Hawk Standouts

  • Reed Tangeman finished with 1 goal from 5 shots, 3 of which were on goal. Tangeman also recorded an assist.

  • Aidan Gans scored one goal from 6 shots, 3 of which were on goal. Gans had 1 ground ball.

  • Yano Porter scored off his only shot and had 1 ground ball.

  • Owen Huard also scored off his only shot. 

Spartans Standouts

  • Chris Bucci recorded 3 goals from 5 shots. 

  • Eli Pangborn scored 3 goal from 4 shots, had 1 assist, 1 ground ball, and 1 caused turnovers.

  • Reilan Pura scored 3 goals from 7 shots, had 1 ground ball and 1 caused turnover.

  • Jimmy Gorecki had 3 goals from 5 shots, picked up 1 assist and had 1 ground ball. 

Inside the Box Score

  • The Hawks finished with 30 shots, 16 on goal while the Spartans had 62 shots, 45 on goal. 

  • The Spartans led the Hawks in ground balls 46-27.

  • The Hawks committed 22 turnovers versus the Spartans 16.

  • The Hawks were 22-of-27 in clears while the Spartans were 22-of-24.

  • In faceoffs, the Spartans led the way with 22 wins. 

2023 Recap

With the loss, the Hawks concluded the 2023 season with a 10-6 overall record and a 6-2 conference record. 

The 2023 season marked the Hawk's winningest season in the programs 4-year history. The Hawks posted a .625 overall winning percentage and a .750 conference winning percentage. The 2023 season also marked the Hawks first appearance in the NACC postseason tournament, in which they made it to the championship. Before the championship game, the  Hawks were on a 7-0 conference winning streak. 

Jackson Brass led the Hawks in goals, scoring 32 from 116 shots throughout the year after appearing in all 16 games. Brass finished the season with 71 shots on goal. Brass and Yano Porter tied for the lead in assists, both recording 20. In ground balls, Spencer Meace led the Hawks with 41. Nehemyah Green recorded the most caused turnovers with 25. 

In goal, Zane Handy started every game for the Hawks. Handy recorded 205 saves during the season for a 59.1 save percentage. Subbing in, Kyle Johnson appeared 6 times. Johnson made 30 saves for a 58.8 save percentage total. 

Congratulations to the Hawks 12 seniors for their careers as Scarlet Hawks and their contributions to Illinois Tech both on and off the field:  Zane Handy, Reed Tangeman, Ryan Arbour, Creighton Gaff, Kaleab Uebelher, Aidan Gans, Spencer Meace, Juan Bohorquez, James Enterline, Jeremy Cohen, Nehemyah Green, and Cornelio Estrella.

The Scarlet Hawks men's lacrosse team will return back to action in the spring of 2024.