Chicago, Ill. - The Illinois Tech men's lacrosse team used nine consecutive goals, including four in a row from
Diego Sosa, and a tenacious defense to defeat visiting MSOE 11-3 in a conference matchup Saturday afternoon at a chilly Stuart Field. The Hawks remained undefeated in NACC play at 6-0 and improved to 8-5 overall. The Raiders dropped to 6-8 overall and 2-4 in conference.
The Scarlet Hawks remained tied with Aurora at 6-0 for first place in the NACC with two games remaining. One of those two games will be on the road this Tuesday at Aurora, in a battle for first place overall.
Sosa was the offensive leader for the Scarlet Hawks on the afternoon, recording 4 goals and 1 assist. Kyle Johnson recorded 16 saves for the win.
First Quarter (Illinois Tech 3 - MSOE 2)
The Scarlet Hawks opened the scoring at the 12:23 mark. With Yano Porter moving far-side to nearside below the goal line, he located Alexander Stokrp 25 feet straight up from goal, and Stokrp bounced his shot past Raider's goalkeeper Thomas Miles for the 1-0 lead. The Hawks extended their lead to 2-0 at 6:33 when Porter picked up a rebound of a Jonathan Vitale shot and fired it home. The Raiders would tie the score just over a minute later with two goals in seven seconds, using back to back faceoff wins to control possession and get their offense in motion. The Scarlet Hawks would get the goal back at 3:17, when Diego Sosa lobbed a floating pass to Owen Huard just right of goal, with Huard catching the pass, spinning and firing it past Miles all in one motion for a 3-2 Hawks lead.
Second Quarter (Illinois Tech 2 - MSOE 0)
Huard would strike again for Illinois Tech at the 13:17 mark of the second quarter, with Jackson Brass passing from below the goal line on the near side to a cutting Huard for a 4-2 Scarlet Hawks lead. Ty Dwyer would close out the scoring in the second quarter for the Hawks, taking a feed just above the restraining line, beating his defender on a sprint to the net, and shooting left side for the 5-2 Scarlet Hawks lead entering halftime.
Third Quarter (Illinois Tech 3 - MSOE 0)
After neither team scored in the first eight-plus minutes of the third quarter, Sosa used a near side screen from Jackson Brass and sprinted past his defender for a 6-2 lead. 29 seconds later Sosa would strike again on a man-up opportunity. After the Hawks cycled the ball counter clockwise around the perimeter, Sosa took a feed at the top of the restraining line, sidestepped a defender and fired a shot between two defenders into the left side of the net for a 7-2 Scarlet Hawks' advantage. Sosa would continue his goal streak with 12 seconds remaining in the quarter. After a dead-ball recovery by the Hawks in the near corner, Sosa took the ball along the goal line to fifteen feet high right of goal. From there, Sosa did an inside, outside, inside move to separate from an MSOE double team and find the top-right corner for an 8-2 Hawks lead entering the final frame.
Fourth Quarter (Illinois Tech 3 - MSOE 1)
Sosa completed his four goal streak at the 13:11 mark of the final quarter, as Tangeman squeezed a bounce pass between two defenders to Sosa just right of goal, firing it into the lower right corner for a 9-2 Scarlet Hawks lead. Tangeman would add to the Hawks lead at 7:14, coming from the near sideline, jogging along the restraining line, then turning on the jets to split two defenders right of net and fired a sidewinder past Miles to extend the Illinois Tech lead to 10-2. The Scarlet Hawks concluded their streak of nine consecutive goals at 4:03, when Porter took a feed from a backpedaling Tangeman just left of goal and immediately swung it past Miles for the 11-2 Hawks' advantage. Carson Harris of MSOE would score an unassisted tally at the four second mark to complete the match scoring.
Scarlet Hawk Standouts
Raiders Watch
- Carson Harris with 1 goal, 3 ground balls and 2 caused turnovers.
- Graden Jansen with 1 goal, 4 ground balls and 6-7 on face-offs.
- Paul Breuck with 6 ground balls and 7-7 on face-offs.
- Ethan Hasselwood with 3 ground balls and 3 caused turnovers.
Inside The Box Score
- Illinois Tech out-shot MSOE 33-27.
- Illinois Tech and MSOE were each 1-5 in man-up opportunities.
- MSOE held a 40-31 advantage in ground balls.
- MSOE had 26 turnovers to 21 for Illinois Tech.
- MSOE was 16-17 on face-offs.
Up Next
A huge conference showdown awaits the Scarlet Hawks this Tuesday, when they travel to Montgomery, Illinois to face off with 6-0 Aurora University at 5:00 PM, with the winner gaining an inside edge for the number one seed for the conference tournament.
