Chicago, Ill. - The Illinois Tech Scarlet Hawks men's lacrosse team took to Stuart Field Wednesday night for a tightly contested match-up against the visiting Concordia University Falcons. It may have been a chilly night, but the Hawks got off to a hot start, scoring 5 unanswered goals in the first quarter to go up 6-1, and tacked on 2 more goals in the second quarter to post an 8-1 halftime lead. The Falcons mounted a furious comeback in the second half, but the Scarlet Hawks added a late insurance goal and hung on for a 12-10 victory. The Hawks move to 4-4 on the year, 3-0 in the NACC while the Falcons fall to 2-6 overall, 1-2 in the NACC.
Diego Sosa led the team with 3 goals at the half, followed by teammates Yano Porter and Connor Montgomery with 2 apiece. Jackson Brass chipped in with three back-to-back-to-back assists early on to aid in the scoring efforts.
The Falcons regrouped at halftime, as their halftime talk seemed to work. They fought the Hawks fire with a flame of their own, holding a 9-4 scoring advantage in the second half. But some clutch saves from Kyle Johnson and a late unassisted goal by Diego Sosa were enough to stuff the Falcon's final hopes.
How It Happened
1st Quarter – Illinois Tech 6 - CUW 1:
Connor Montgomery opened scoring at 11:21 with an unassisted tally. CUW's Gio Nowotarski got the equalizer just a minute later on a pass from Connor Quill. Illinois Tech responded by scoring 5 more goals of their own, scoring 6 of their 8 total shots. Kyle Johnson had 4 saves to keep the Falcons to 1 goal on their 7 shots.
2nd Quarter - Illinois Tech 8 - CUW 1:
The second quarter proved a scoring drought for both teams with just two goals tallied by Illinois Tech. Diego Sosa continued his dominance with another unassisted goal at 11:08. Four and a half minutes later, Jonathan Vitale contributed a goal off a Connor Montgomery pass to get the Hawks to the halftime score of 8-1. The Hawks outshot the Falcons 9-4, though both teams only had 2 shots on goal through the quarter.
3rd Quarter - Illinois Tech 11 - CUW 6:
CUW's Nowotarski opened scoring in the 3rd quarter for the Falcons at 13:51. The Hawks responded quickly with another unassisted goal from Sosa just 35 seconds later. Connor Montgomery bagged a hattrick at 9:56 to extend the lead even further, 10-2. The Falcon's rebounded with four goals in a row over the next five minutes, sponsored by two goals apiece from Bryce Petersen and Max Esposito. Connor Montgomery rounded out the quarter with another unassisted score at 00:59 to keep the Hawks up by five. Despite the lopsided scoring, Johnson bested CUW goalie Nolan O'Malley in saves, 6-2.
4th Quarter - Illinois Tech 12 - CUW 10:
The Falcons wasted no time trying to get back in the game, recording a Petersen goal from an Oliver Roa assist just under 30 seconds into the fourth quarter. Esposito added two unassisted goals and Preston Meier added one, all in just four minutes. The game would remain at a nail-biting 11-10 in Illinois Tech's favor until an unassisted score at 2:53 from Sosa gave the Hawks a slight cushion. After a clear by CUW at 1:06, the Falcons had one last chance to get the game to a tie. This attempt was thwarted by a forced turnover by Illinois Tech's Owen Silverman, resulting in a ground ball by Andrei Gran and a successful clear attempt for the Hawks that all but sealed the deal.
Scarlet Hawk Standouts
Inside The Box Score
Up Next
The Scarlet Hawks tuck in for another Stuart Field stunner on Saturday as they take on Lawrence University at 1:00 PM in their fourth NACC competition.
