CHICAGO, Ill. - The Illinois Tech women's lacrosse team hosted a battle of Midwest Women's Lacrosse Conference unbeatens on Tuesday evening, as Concordia University Wisconsin visited Stuart Field. The Scarlet Hawks mounted a late comeback, but could not overcome a sluggish start, as the Falcons held on late to win 10-8.

Records

• CUW (10-4, 9-0 MWLC)
• Illinois Tech (13-2, 8-1 MWLC)

How it Happened

• The Falcons were the aggressors early, maintaining possession and keeping the Scarlet Hawks quiet on offense. While CUW did not score its first goal until nearly six minutes into the match, the Falcons followed that goal up with a flurry of three goals in a three-minute span to take a 4-0 lead with 18:00 left in the first half. 
• CUW scored twice more before the Scarlet Hawks could find any offense. With 10:27 left to go in the half and a player advantage, Isabella Rubin scored off a free position shot to put the Scarlet Hawks on the board. 
• After the two teams traded goals to bring the score to 7-2, Tech closed the half out on a strong note. Madison Meredith and Alyssa DeLuca both tallied in the half's final two minutes. 
• Meredith had a free position shot in the half's final seconds, but Falcons goalkeeper Veronika Metanova made one of her 15 saves on the evening to keep the score at 7-4 going into the intermission.
• The Scarlet Hawks were unable to take the momentum built to send the first half into the start of the second half, as the Falcons scored the first two goals of the second stanza to build the lead back to five at 9-4.
• After eight minutes of play with no goals, Rubin broke the drought for both teams with a Tech goal with 16:19 to play, bringing the score to 9-5.
• CUW tallied once more with 13:56 to play to move the lead back up to five, but the Scarlet Hawks would not go down without a fight. Both DeLuca and Meredith would score with 8:07 and 7:34 left to play, pushing Tech to within three.
• After the Meredith goal, Rubin won a second straight draw control, which led to a DeLuca tally to make it 10-8 with 4:30 to play.
• While Rubin would secure another draw for the Hawks, a turnover handed possession back to CUW. The Falcons were able to run the clock out until less than a minute remained, as a wide Meredith shot with 27 seconds remaining was the last chance the Hawks had.

Scarlet Hawk Standouts

• DeLuca led all players in the match with four goals.
• Both Meredith and Rubin scored twice. Rubin added an assist and three draw controls, all of which came in the last 10 minutes of the match. Meredith led the team with four ground balls and two caused turnovers.
• Abbie Reynolds made eight saves against a tough Falcons offense.

Stats to Know

• Despite the defeat, the Scarlet Hawks outshot the Falcons by 15, 36-21.
• CUW managed to hold off the Tech offense in large part due to Metanova. She tallied 15 saves on 23 shots on goal.
• Tech was just 2-of-13 on free position attempts.

Up Next

• Another large MWLC contest awaits on Saturday, as the Scarlet Hawks will look to hang onto second place in the league with a matchup against a tough Aurora University team. Live audio, video, and stats will be available for the 1:00 p.m. contest at Stuart Field. The live broadcast will be powered by Illinois Media School.