Contact: Taiah Gallisath, Associate Director of Athletics Communication, 630-637-5302
 
Feb. 28, 2026 – The North Central College men's lacrosse team battled the University of Dubuque in its home opener Saturday afternoon at Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium. Despite building multiple two-goal leads, the Cardinals came up short in a 9–8 sudden-victory overtime thriller against the Spartans. With the loss, North Central falls to 0–3 on the season, while Dubuque secures its first win to improve to 1–2.
 
North Central held the statistical advantage in saves (12-10), ground balls (47-30), successful clears (15-14), and faceoff wins (13-6) but trailed in shots (43-36) and caused turnovers (17-14). Five Cardinals found the back of the net, as Wyatt Hunt, Ben Kerkow, and Ty Nagy shared the team lead with two goals apiece, while Devon Manjarrez and Jack Blaylock added one goal each. Hunt, Nagy, Blaylock, and Seth Rosen each contributed one assist.
 
Gavin Braley won 13 of 18 faceoffs, while tying for the team lead with eight ground balls alongside Zachary Coursel. Dominic Rohrer led the Cardinal defense with four caused turnovers, while Dylan Schroeder and Quintin Witt each recorded two caused turnovers. Beck Hagen was the primary goalie in the contest, recording 11 saves for a .550 save percentage. Matthew Cranston also made an appearance in goal and notched one save.
 
North Central fired several shots to open the game, but it wasn't until the five-minute mark that the scoreboard broke open, when Dubuque capitalized on a man-up goal. Three minutes later, Rosen took a shot that the Spartan goalie stopped but was unable to fully corral, allowing Nagy to scoop up the rebound and score, tying the game at 1–1.
 
Kerkow notched the go-ahead goal with five minutes to play in the first period, with Hunt padding the Cardinal lead in the final minute by curling around the cage, giving North Central a 3–1 lead heading into the second period.
 
Dubuque answered five minutes into the second quarter to cut North Central's lead to one. Despite both teams getting extra-man opportunities, neither team was able to capitalize. With just over three minutes to play, Hunt found Nagy for the Cardinals' fourth goal of the game, restoring a two-goal advantage. The advantage was short-lived, though, as Dubuque scored once more before halftime to make it 4–3 in favor of the Cardinals headed into the break.

An offsides penalty on the Spartans gave the Cardinals another extra-man opportunity. Hunt buried a shot off a pass from Rosen for his first man-up goal of the season, extending the lead to 5–3. Dubuque managed to score again at the 7:24 mark of the third quarter to pull within one at 5–4. Hagen snagged a clutch save with just over three minutes to play, keeping the Spartans at bay. Unfortunately, Hagen's heroics were short-lived as Dubuque netted the equalizer, sending the game into the fourth period tied at 5–5.
 
Blaylock recorded the first goal of his collegiate career in the opening minute of the fourth to move North Central ahead 6–5. The Cardinals extended the lead with Blaylock setting up Kerkow for a 7–5 advantage, but one minute later the Spartans cut it back to within one.
 
The Cardinals converted crisp ball movement in transition into a goal, with Nagy assisting Manjarrez for an 8–6 lead with five minutes left to play. Dubuque answered with a pair of goals in just over a one-minute span to level the score at 8–8 and send the game into overtime.
 
The overtime period began with Dubuque getting a shot off, but the Cardinals' defense blocked the attempt early on. After penalties on each side sent both a Cardinal and a Spartan to the box, Dubuque capitalized for its ninth goal of the game to secure the sudden-victory win. It marks North Central's second overtime loss this season.
 
The Cardinals return to Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium on Wednesday, March 4, to host Lawrence University for a 7 p.m. contest.