Contact: Tyler Bremner, Sports Information Graduate Assistant

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. (April 9, 2025) – The North Central College men's lacrosse team faced its first College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) opponent of the 2025 season on the road against Illinois Wesleyan University, falling 19-10 in Tucci Stadium.

Illinois Wesleyan (9-2, 1-0 CCIW) got ahead early, breaking through for four quick scores in the first five minutes between Gage Black, Billy McHugh, Nick Schroeder, and Ike Eastburn. On the following faceoff, North Central's (6-3, 0-1 CCIW) Dalton Lutz came up with it to allow Luke Paris to score thirty seconds later to bring the score to 4-1. The Titans retaliated two minutes later to push the lead back to four with another goal from McHugh. With five minutes remaining, Charlie Snyder connected with Cole Westphal for his first goal of the game to bring the Cardinals within three before the second period.

Westphal fired ahead 53 seconds into the second period for a score to take the Illinois Wesleyan lead back down to two. Both defenses settled in for the next five minutes, with the Titans finding a gap to fire off a 3-0 run between Bob Boone and Sam Skelton within 60 seconds, which earned their largest lead so far at 8-3. It took another four minutes until Ty Nagy found room past Colin Tervo to bring North Central back within four. Illinois Wesleyan snuck two scores in the last 20 seconds to jump to 10-4 to end the period.

As the rain began to fall in the second period, Nagy would be the first to score with his second goal of the match with help from Westphal three minutes in to inch back within five goals. Boone found room past Aidan Murphy to stymie the effort two minutes later, but a two-goal surge from Snyder and Wyatt Hunt over the remainder of the period knocked the Titans down to just a four-goal lead.

The final period saw Illinois Wesleyan rip ahead with 2-0 run in the first three minutes to mark a 13-7 lead. Hunt fired back two minutes later with his second goal of the match, but the Titans responded with another three goals to wind the clock down to five minutes. On the following face off a costly penalty on the Titans allowed Nagy his third score of the game to mark the score at 16-9. Illinois Wesleyan again rattled off another two goals with Zachary McClure earning a goal with two minutes remaining. With the score at 18-10 the Titan's Jake Kahoun broke out with 12 seconds remaining to seal the game at 19-10.

Offensively, the Cardinals were outshot with 24 shots on goal to the Titans' 40. Nagy led the way in goals with three while Hunt and Westphal each earned a pair. Jake Paris led defensively with three caused turnovers and four groundballs. Murphy secured the net through all 60 minutes, saving 21 shots while allowing all 19 scores.

North Central faces the second CCIW opponent on Saturday against Carroll University at Schneider Stadium. Access the full schedule HERE.

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