Todd Szerlong
The Illinois Wesleyan University men’s lacrosse team went 1-1 this week, with a thrilling comeback rally against Hope College on Friday, April 4, and a wake-up call loss to Whittier College of California the next night. Illinois Wesleyan beat Hope 10-9 and lost to Whittier 17-9. Both games were played at Tucci Stadium.
In the game against Hope, after being down 8-7 when the third quarter came to a close, the Titans got two clutch goals to take the lead for good. First-year midfielder Michael Julius led the scoring for the men in white, scoring four. Other goals came from first-year midfielder Jordan Gagnon, first-year attackers Tyler Rauwolf, Andrew Schreiber, Tim Smith and Evan Mok-Lamme.
Rauwolf had two while the attackers listed each contributed one. Rauwolf, along with Schreiber, Smith and first-year attacker Jacob Perry all had assists.
First-year goalkeeper Steven Laduzinsky had 17 saves in his seventh win on the year. The Titans moved to 7-1 while the Hope Flying Dutchmen dropped to 3-4.
Hope outshot Illinois Wesleyan 38-34 and had a big lead in face-offs, 14-8. But, Hope also had 20 turnovers and was 0 for 5 in extra-man opportunities, while the Titans only had 15 and were 1 for 3, respectively.
The next night, Julius had a career night with five goals and two assists, but the Titans were bested by nationally-ranked Whittier Poets for their second loss on the season.
Mok-Lamme scored two goals for the Titans, while Smith and first-year midfielder Connor Coffey added one. Gagnon, Rauwolf and Schreiber added assists. Steven Laduzinsky made 17 saves.
Whittier, who scored seven first period goals, outshot Illinois Wesleyan 53-28 and dominated in the faceoff circle, only losing two. (28-30). Illinois Wesleyan was 2-9 in extra-man opportunities while Whittier was 1-5.
The Titans look to bounce back against the University of Dubuque this Friday, April 11. The game will be played at home at 7:00 p.m.