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

Box Score

NAPERVILLE, Ill. (Apr. 1, 2023) - A career high six goals from Luke Illgen helped the North Central College men's lacrosse team fly past the Calvin University Knights 17-9 on Saturday afternoon at Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium. The Cardinals honored their 13 senior members following the win. 

Illgen got the Cardinal offense rolling as he found the back of the net twice off of passes from Rylan McQueary and Nick Rubino to give the home team a 2-0 lead. The Knights responded with two quick goals of their own, scoring within 13 seconds of each to tie the game at two.  Rubino would finish off the first quarter with a goal of his own as Tom Eberhardt found him to give the Cardinals a 3-2 lead heading into the second. 

The Cardinals offense exploded in the second quarter as Joey D'Cunha and Eberhardt found the back of the net to increase their lead to three. Six seconds after the Cardinals took a three goal lead, Zach Kuyava won the face-off and found Illgen who put it past the Knights goalkeeper to give the Cardinals a 6-2 lead. Illgen netted his fourth goal of the game as Conner Holderness dished out his fourth career assist to give North Central a five goal lead. The Knights cut the lead to four as Thomas Smith slipped his shot past goalkeeper Jake Allgood but Jack Moran would find Eberhardt to give them their five goal lead back. Illgen would send the Cardinals into halftime with a 9-3 lead as he finished off a Moran assist to net his fifth goal of the game. 

The Cardinals offense came out firing in the second half, scoring three unanswered goals to extend their lead to nine with 5:57 remaining in the third. After the Knights netted two goals of their own, Moran found the back of the net for the second time of day as he scored an unassisted goal to give the Cardinals a 15-3 lead. Illgen would cap off a career high day with his sixth goal of the game, giving the Cardinals a nine goal lead. 

The fourth quarter started with the Knights cutting the lead to seven as they  scored two quick goals but Patrick Fransen responded with a goal of his own, finishing off a Charlie Snyder pass to put the Cardinals up 15-7. Dylan Anderson netted a goal of his own off an Eberhardt assist before  Samuel Russchenberg netted his third career goal to close out the scoring for the Cardinals. The Knights would tally two more goals in the final minute but it wasn't enough as the Cardinals downed Calvin 17-9. 

Illgen led all scorers with six goals while Eberhardt tallied three goals.  Moran led the team  with three assists and Eberhardt and Rubino each had two. Kuyava went 16 of 27 at the face-off circle while scooping up a team-high seven ground balls. Allgood earned the win in net as he tallied eight saves in the contest while Jack MacLeod tallied four saves in the 15 minutes he was in net. 

The Cardinals travel to Albion College on Wednesday, April 5th for their final non-conference  matchup of the season. The opening face-off is set for 6 pm est inside Alumni Stadium. 

Download the free North Central Cardinals app, available for iOS and Android devices, to receive up-to-the-minute news, scores and updates on your favorite North Central teams. Click HERE for more information.