Hendersonville, Tenn. - A 1-0 first quarter lead for Illinois Tech men's lacrosse was erased by six unanswered first half goals by Transylvania, as the Pioneers held off the Scarlet Hawks the rest of the way for a 10-7 non-conference victory in the finale of the Hawks trip to Nashville for the Music City Classic on Sunday afternoon. The Hawks open the season 1-1 after splitting both games this weekend. The Pioneers improved to 1-2.

Scarlet Hawk freshman attack Connor Montgomery continued his early-season offensive output, recording a hat trick in his second career collegiate match, after scoring his first goal in Saturday's win against Hendrix College. Diego Sosa scored a pair of goals for a second consecutive game.

How It Happened

• 1st Quarter - Illinois Tech 1 - Transylvania 1: After a scoreless first 9:23 of the opening quarter, Illinois Tech's Jackson Brass scored the opening goal of the game, his fifth of the season, at 5:37 on the man advantage, to give the Hawks a 1-0 lead. The Pioneers would get a late goal by Andrew Welch with 1:12 remaining to tie the game at 1-1. 
• 2nd Quarter - Transylvania 5 - Illinois Tech 1: The Pioneers would break open the game in the second quarter, scoring five consecutive goals, including a pair by Luke Stetter, to open up a 6-1 lead. The Scarlet Hawks would get one goal back at 4:25 when Connor Montgomery scored his second of the season to cut the Hawks' deficit to 6-2 going into halftime.
• 3rd Quarter: Illinois Tech 3 - Transylvania 2: Henry Rankin opened the scoring for the Hawks in the third quarter at 12:29, tallying his second career goal to move the Hawks within 3 goals at 6-3. The teams traded goal over the next four scores, with Diego Sosa scoring his third of the season at 6:34 for the Hawks, and Montgomery scoring his second of the match at 3:54 to close out the third quarter scoring, with Transylvania holding an 8-5 advantage.
• 4th Quarter: Transylvania 2 - Illinois Tech 2: Sosa added his second of the game and fourth of the season at 13:16 to close within two goals at 8-6. Montgomery scored his third of the match and fourth of the season at 4:19, sandwiched between a pair of Pioneers goals. Unfortunately the Hawks couldn't get any closer than three goals the rest of the way.

Scarlet Hawk Standouts

• Connor Montgomery with three goals on 6 shots, 4 on goal
• Diego Sosa with a pari of goals on 8 shots, 4 on goal, with a caused turnover
• Henry Rankin with 1 goal, 4 ground balls and 2 caused turnover
• Bodey Goertzen with 3 ground balls and 3 caused turnovers
• Jackson Brass with one goal
• Yano Porter with 1 assist and 3 ground balls
• Micah Manookian with 1 ground ball and 3 caused turnovers

Inside The Box Score

• Ryan Geisler led the Pioneers with 2 goals and 1 assist, along with 4 ground balls and 1 caused turnover
• Transylvania outshot Illinois Tech 36-29
• Transylvania was 1-3 with the man advantage; The Hawks were 2-6

Up Next
The Scarlet Hawks will be idle until March 1st, when they host Kalamazoo College at 1:00pm at Stuart Field in the Hawks' home opener.