MILWAUKEE, Wis. (Mar. 7, 2026) - With momentum in their hands, the North Central College men's lacrosse team could not hold on in the first game of their spring break stretch, falling 7-5 to the Milwaukee School of Engineering on Saturday afternoon.

From the opening whistle, North Central secured the faceoff, with Will Handberg collecting the ground ball. Just four minutes into the game, Ben Kerkow scored the first goal to give the Cardinals an early 1-0 lead. The Raiders offense responded with two shots on goal, but Beck Hagen stopped both attempts. Kerkow added his second goal of the day at the seven minute mark. 

Late in the first quarter, Wyatt Hunt fired three consecutive shots, with his final attempt finding the cage for the Cardinals' third goal, making it 3-0. MSOE quickly responded, putting themselves on the board at 3-1. North Central capped the quarter with one more goal by Ty Nagy assisted by Kerkow to take a 4-1 lead into the second.

MSOE came out of the break fired up, registering two early shots on Hagen but failing to convert. Devon Manjarrez tried to extend the Cardinals' lead with a shot that went just wide, while Hagen made two more saves. Neither team scored in the second quarter despite North Central putting three shots on goal and MSOE taking six. 

MSOE controlled the opening faceoff of the third quarter and immediately tested Hagen with a shot. Hunt answered with a blocked attempt but recovered the ground ball and ripped another shot on goal. The quarter remained scoreless until the Raiders generated a late surge, scoring on a player-up opportunity with under three minutes remaining to make it 4-2. Moments later, Handberg scooped up a ground ball, and Jack Blaylock scored to restore the Cardinals' three-goal lead at 5-2. MSOE converted a goal in their final possession before the quarter ended, cutting the deficit to 5-3. 

In the fourth quarter, MSOE maintained possession and scored quickly to make it 5-4. North Central generated multiple shots from Manjarrez and Kerkow, but the Raiders tied the game at 5-5 at 7:58. Seconds later, a North Central turnover allowed MSOE to take its first lead at 6-5. The Cardinals fought back with successful clears and several shots, but MSOE scored their final goal at the four-minute mark to seal a 7-5 victory.

MSOE outshot North Central 26-18 and converted one of three extra-man opportunities. The Cardinals collected more ground balls, 33-27, and Hagen made 19 saves compared with MSOE goalie Lo's 13.

North Central continues its spring break trip in Lexington, Kentucky, facing Penn College at Transylvania University's Pat Deacon Stadium at 1 p.m. ET.