Contact: Tyler Bremner, Sports Information Graduate Assistant

Results

ELMHURST, Ill. (Apr. 27, 2024) – The North Central College men's lacrosse team faced the Elmhurst University Bluejays, falling to a third seed for the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) tournament.

Elmhurst (11-3, 3-1 CCIW) was the first to the net as Hunter Hernandez fired a shot past Aidan Murphy two minutes in to begin a five-goal run. Eli Spence, Charlie Ferree, Chris Haycock, and Brenden Crouse all scored to push the Bluejays up 5-0 with 4:47 to go. Following a faceoff win, North Central's (11-2, 3-1 CCIW) Charlie Snyder locked in the first Cardinal goal of the match just under a minute later with help from Joey D'Cunha. Elmhurst fired back with three goals over the remainder of the period with shots from Tony Vasquez, Pete Grebe, and Ferree to push the lead to seven.

As the defenses settled in, the Cardinals were the first to find a gap as Kadin Melin fired a shot past Andrew Lacksonen with 8:18 left. The Bluejays did not wait long as over a minute later Crouse snuck a goal in to put the score at 9-2. Spence was the next to score after a successful defensive stand fending off two Cardinal scoring attempts putting Elmhurst up by eight with just under six minutes to go. North Central fired back as Luke Illgen scored with assistance from Evan Watanabe followed by D'Cunha scoring again with assistance from Luke Paris. With four minutes remaining, Elmhurst finished with another three goals between Spence and Haycock to seal the half at 13-4.

The Bluejays' unrelenting offense continued into the third period as Gabe Henry and Ryan Swank each scored within the first three minutes. With the score at 15-4, both teams struggled offensively for the next ten minutes until Tom Eberhardt found room to push the Cardinals to 15-5 before the end of the period.

Entering the final period, the Cardinals' final goal came just under three minutes in as Snyder notched his second goal of the game. Elmhurst tripled the effort as Swank, Haycock, and Hernandez each scored to seal the final score at 18-6 and secure home-field advantage for the CCIW tournament semifinals.

In total, Snyder led the offense with two goals while D'Cunha followed with one goal and one assist. On defense, McQueary, Watanabe, and Dylan Mlinarich all forced one turnover and secured one groundball. Murphy battled all 60 minutes in goal while securing 16 saves.

North Central will face Elmhurst on the road on Wednesday in the CCIW tournament semifinal. Find more information here.

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