CHICAGO, IL — Men's Lacrosse turned a tightly contested first half into a commanding 11-5 victory over Benedictine University in a key Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) men's lacrosse matchup Wednesday night at Stuart Field. The win lifts Illinois Tech to 8-6 overall and 7-2 in the NACC, while Benedictine falls to 6-9 (4-5 NACC). Illinois Tech now sets its sights on solidifying postseason positioning as the regular season winds down. With offensive firepower and a stout defense coming together at the right time, the Scarlet Hawks are a team to watch in the NACC postseason race.
How It Happened
Illinois Tech found themselves trailing 3-1 midway through the second quarter after a pair of early goals from Benedictine, but the Scarlet Hawks' offense steadily found its rhythm and completely flipped the momentum of the game.
The first goal for Illinois Tech came from
Connor Montgomery, who weaved through the defense to bury an unassisted shot at 8:30 in the first quarter. After Benedictine responded with two goals to take a 3-1 lead,
Alexander Stokrp cut the deficit to one with a goal assisted by
Jackson Brass just over a minute before halftime.
Coming out of the break, Illinois Tech took advantage of a man-up situation when Brass scored the equalizer at 11:59 in the third quarter, assisted by
Marc Rebusi. That goal opened the floodgates. Just four minutes later, Brass scored again—this time off a feed from
Henry Rankin—to give the Scarlet Hawks their first lead of the night. Brass then completed a third-quarter hat trick with an unassisted goal at 0:48, pushing the lead to 5-3.
The fourth quarter was all Illinois Tech. Brass scored twice in under two minutes—first off a setup by
Kyle Johnson at 14:01, and then again with an assist from
Diego Sosa at 12:38. Montgomery followed with another unassisted tally at 10:38. Moments later,
Will Von Eyser got in on the action, scoring off a crisp pass from Brass.
Brass wasn't done—he added one more at 8:14, with Montgomery returning the favor with the assist. Montgomery capped off the scoring with his third of the night at 5:12, sealing the 11-5 victory for Illinois Tech.
In total, the Scarlet Hawks scored 11 goals—6 by Brass and 3 by Montgomery—with 7 assists coming from six different players, showcasing their offensive balance and chemistry.
Scarlet Hawk Standouts
- Jackson Brass: 6 goals, 2 assists. Took over the game in the third quarter with 3 goals in the frame
- Connor Montgomery: 3 goals, 1 assist. Delivered clutch goals to fuel Illinois Tech's scoring runs
- Kyle Johnson: 15 saves on 20 shots faced. Set the tone early with 7 first-quarter saves and kept Benedictine in check all night
- Henry Rankin: 4 ground balls, 3 caused turnovers, 1 assist. Impact player on the defensive end and in transition
Inside the Box Score
- Second-Half Swing: Illinois Tech outscored Benedictine 9-2 after halftime
- Goalie Duel: Kyle Johnson (TECH) made 15 saves, out dueling Benedictine's Colin Doyle, who finished with 10
- Shot Production: Illinois Tech out shot Benedictine 33-27, including 21-20 in shots on goal
- Ground Game: Benedictine led in ground balls 29-18, but Illinois Tech made up for it with better execution and possession
- Man-Down Stops: Illinois Tech held Benedictine scoreless on all three of their man-up opportunities
Up Next
Men's Lacrosse will look to continue to rise in the NACC standings when they make the trip to Iowa on Saturday April 18
th to face off with the University of Dubuque in a game with major
