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

Box Score

DUBUQUE, IOWA (Mar. 29, 2023) - A five goal third quarter was the deciding factor in a tightly contested battle on Wednesday night as the North Central College men's lacrosse team defeated the University of Dubuque 11-6 at Oyen Field. 

The Cardinals (4-3) offense found their footing early as Rylan McQueary finished off a Jack Moran assist before Dalton Lutz found Tom Eberhardt to give the visitors a 2-0 lead. The Spartans responded early in the second quarter, cutting the deficit to one but Joey D'Cunha found the back of the net for the first time on the night to extend their lead back to two. The Spartans closed out the first half as Giovanni Silva slipped one past goalkeeper Aidan Murphy to cut the lead to one. 

The Spartans used that momentum in the second half, tying the game at three but Moran and McQueary both found the back of the net to extend their lead to two once again. The game swung in the Cardinals favor when they rattled off two man-down goals from Nick Rubino and Eberhardt, ultimately putting the game out of reach. After a Spartans goal, Eberhardt scored three unanswered goals himself to give the Cardinals a 10-4 lead. McQueary netted the final goal of the game for the Cardinals, sending them home from Dubuque with  an 11-6 win. 

Eberhardt led all scorers with five goals, his second game this season with five goals, while McQueary netted three goals for the Cardinals. Moran dished out a team-high two assists in the contest. Evan Lilga led the team with four caused turnovers and five ground balls while Aidan Murphy moved to 2-0 on the season as he made 11 saves. 

The Cardinals return to Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium on Saturday, April 1 as they take on Calvin University at 3 pm. They will honor their 13 senior members after the contest. 

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