Contact: Matthew Eaker, Sports Information Graduate Assistant, mreaker@noctrl.edu 

KENOSHA, Wis. (Apr. 24, 2022) - Taking a trip up north to Kenosha, Wis. to take on conference rival Carthage College, the North Central College men's lacrosse team battled back from a two goal deficit but it wasn't enough as they fell 15-14 in overtime inside Art Keller Field.  

The game started off very promising for the Cardinals (6-7, 2-3 CCIW) as Nick Rubino scored just two minutes into the game before Tom Eberhardt would score off an assist from Jack Moran put the Cardinals up 2-1 just three minutes into the game. The Firebirds (10-4, 3-1 CCIW) would respond as George Burchfield scored off an assist from Michael Stell to cut the Cardinal lead to two. With just under six minutes remaining in the first quarter of play, Joey D'Cuhna would score before Scott Allgood would score off another Moran assist putting the Cardinals up by three. The Firebirds would strike again with 13 seconds left in the quarter, giving the Cardinals a 4-2 lead heading into the second quarter. The second quarter was dominated by the Firebirds as they rattled off four goals to start the quarter before Rubino would score off an Eberhardt assist putting the Cardinals down one. Carthage would score the final goal of the quarter and would lead 7-5 heading into the half. 

Moran would start the second half with a quick goal to cut the Firebird lead to one but Carthage would score two unanswered goals to extend their lead to three. Eberhardt would score soon after the Firebirds second goal, followed by a D'Cuhna goal to cut the lead to one once again. The Firebirds would get those two goals back to bring the lead back to three before Allgood would start a two goal stretch to put the Cardinals down one heading into the final quarter of play. Allgood would tie the game up at 11 just 23 seconds into the fourth quarter but that lead would fade away as the Firebirds scored two more goals to put the Cardinals down 13-11 with eight minutes to play. Moran would tally his second goal of the game before Rylan McQueary would score off an assist from Moran to tie the game up at 13 with just under five minutes to play. With three minutes to play, Allgood received a pass from Moran and put it past the Firebirds goalkeeper to take the lead but with one minute to play Andrew Frey would score, sending the game to overtime. 

In overtime, the Firebirds won the opening faceoff and called a quick timeout to strategize. The Cardinals seemed to force a turnover but the ball would slip away from goalkeeper Aidan Murphy and Frey would put one in the wide open net, giving the Firebirds a 15-14 win. 

Allgood led the team with four goals while Rubino had three and Moran and D'Cuhna each had two. Moran had a team high four assists and six points. Murphy tallied 14 saves as he fell to 2-1 on the season while Conner Holderness led the team with five ground balls. 

The Cardinals are back in action on Friday, Apr. 29 as they host Transylvania University in a crucial CCIW matchup at 7 pm inside Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium. Following the contest against Transylvania, the Cardinals will honor their four senior members. 

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