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

Box Score

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Apr. 15, 2023) - Playing in their second College Conference Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) road game, the North Central College men's lacrosse team used a five goal second quarter to knock off the Transylvania University Pioneers on Saturday afternoon at Pat Deacon Stadium. 

The last time these two teams met was on May 8 in the CCIW Championship where the Cardinals clipped the Pioneers 11-10 to claim their first ever conference tournament title. The Pioneers (3-10, 2-2 CCIW) found the back of the net with seven minutes remaining in the first as Dalton Hubbs snuck his shot past Jake Allgood to give them a 1-0 lead. Nick Rubino netted the equalizer two minutes later but the Pioneers went back on top just 19 seconds later. Both teams went back and forth before Luke Illgen tied the game at three with five seconds to go in the quarter. 

Rubino kicked off the second quarter with an unassisted goal to give the Cardinals a one goal lead but saw that lead fade away 46 seconds later as Tai Stormont netted his first goal of the game. A goal from each team leveled the score at five but Illgen started a three goal stretch to end the second quarter to give North Central an 8-5 lead heading into halftime.

The Cardinals saw their lead expand to six as Rylan McQueary, Tom Eberhardt and Joey D'Cunha found the back of the net to give North Central an 11-5 advantage. The Pioneers found the back of the net with 2:44 remaining to cut the lead to five. 

McQueary kicked off the fourth quarter with his second goal of the night to extend the Cardinals lead back to six. After another Pioneers goal, D'Cunha put the game away with his second tally of the night to give North Central a 13-7 win. 

Rubino led all scorers with four goals while Illgen tallied three goals in the contest. Rubino and D'Cunha each dished out two assists in the win while Jack Moran tallied one assist. Trenton Herubin and Rutger Rawlings led the defensive efforts with two caused turnovers each while Jake Paris scooped up a team high six ground balls. Allgood earned the win in net as he tallied 17 saves and improved his record to 4-4 on the season. 

The Cardinals return to Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium for a three game homestand on Wednesday, April 19 as they take on CCIW opponent Carroll University. The opening face-off is set for 7 pm. 

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