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

Box Score

NAPERVILLE, Ill. (Apr. 19, 2023) - Scoring early and often, the North Central College men's lacrosse team's offense exploded for a 25 goal performance, tying the single game record for goals in their 25-2 win over Carroll University on Wednesday night at Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium. 

The Cardinals (8-4, 3-0 CCIW) tied the program record for single season goals (25) which was set in the programs' inaugural season on February 22, 2017 against Concordia-Chicago. 

Evan Watanabe kicked off the scoring for the Cardinals with 9:43 remaining in the first quarter before Nick Rubino netted two goals of his own to give North Central a 3-0 advantage. Rylan McQueary extended the Cardinal lead with an unassisted goal with eight minutes remaining and Gavin Rieger would close out the first quarter by scoring his second goal of the season. 

After the Cardinals received two penalties, Carroll (3-12, 0-4 CCIW) looked to get on the board but after a turnover, Charlie Snyder buried his first goal of the game to put the Cardinals up 6-0. The Cardinals offense kept rolling as they rattled off five more unanswered goals, two from Jude Vitale, to head into halftime with an 11-0 lead. 

Ty Nagy and Trent Mulder combined for the Cardinals next five goals as Nagy found the back of the net three times and Mulder scored twice to give the Cardinals a 16-0 lead with 10:19 remaining in the third quarter. Vitale finished off a Evan Watanabe assist to increase their lead to seventeen but with 4:39 remaining, Brady Raczkowski netted the Pioneers first goal to cut the deficit to sixteen. Vitale and Mulder each netted a goal late in the third quarter to give the Cardinals a 19-1 lead heading into the final quarter of play. 

Nagy scored his fourth and final goal of the night early in the fourth quarter before Patrick Fransen found the back of the net for the second time this season to give North Central a 21-1 lead with 11:53 remaining. Snyder found the back of the net for the final time of night as he scored an unassisted goal before Mulder scored his fourth goal with 9:23 remaining. The Pioneers would score their second goal of the night as Roman Stanley slipped one past goalkeeper Jack Senese with 8:42 remaining. The Cardinals would finish the night with two man-up goals from Anthony Zowin and Mulder to secure their eighth win of the season and their third win in conference play. 

Mulder led all scorers with five goals while Nagy and Vitale each scored four goals, all career and season-highs. Watanabe, Rieger and Lilga each dished out two assists in the win while Rubino and Illgen each had one assist. Aidan Murphy improved to 3-0 on the season as he tallied three saves in the contest, Senese tallied a career-high seven saves in the second half. 

The Cardinals return to Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium on Saturday as they take on CCIW rival Carthage College at 1 pm. 

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