Men’s Lacrosse Takes Down Transylvania to Extend Win Streak to Seven
BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Behind an explosive offense, the Illinois Wesleyan University men’s lacrosse team took down College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin foe Transylvania University, 19-9, Saturday, April 22, to pick up its seventh straight win. The Titans improve to 10-3 overall, and remain perfect in conference action with a 4-0 record. The loss drops the Pioneers to 3-10, 2-2 in CCIW play.
The Titan offense was led by eight points from senior Carson Kiichle (Vancouver, Wash.-Skyview), as he finished with three goals and five assists. Junior Bob Boone (Los Angeles, Calif.-Notre Dame) notched a career-best six assists, while senior Connor Kiichle (Vancouver, Wash.-Skyview) finished with five points on three goals and two helpers. Junior Ike Eastburn (Colorado Springs, Colo.-Cheyenne Mountain) led the match with four goals.
Defensively, IWU recorded 23 caused turnovers as a team, powered behind three from senior Mason Barney (New Haven, Ind.-R. Nelson Snider) and freshman Kade Miers (Cincinnati, Ohio-St. Xavier). Five Titans finished with a pair of caused turnovers. Connor Kiichle and junior Michael Campagna (Arlington Heights, Ill.-Saint Viator) led the team with seven ground balls each, both setting a new career-high.
At the X, sophomore Nick Schroeder (Waunakee, Wis.-Waunakee) led the Green and White, going 9-for-20, while adding six ground balls.
Sophomore Colin Tervo (West Linn, Ore.-West Linn) picked up the win between the posts, as he finished with eight saves while allowing five goals in the first half of the game. Junior Alex Oximana (Seattle, Wash.-Bishop Blanchet) made seven saves while allowing four goals in the second half to close out the game.
Eastburn put IWU on the scoreboard first, as the junior caused a Pioneers turnover, scooped up the ground ball, and buried a shot at the 12:25 mark in the first period. After Transy tied the match up, Boone found Carson Kiichle to push the Titans back out in front, 2-1, with 8:23 remaining.
Transylvania knotted the game at two all just a minute later, and the game would remain tied until Carson Kiichle assisted Eastburn’s second goal of the match at the 5:52 mark in the first period to help the Titans take a 3-2 lead.
With 4:11 remaining, Carson Kiichle found his brother, Connor Kiichle, to up the lead to 4-2. Transy cut the lead back to one, but Boone found junior Gage Black (Peoria, Ill.-Notre Dame) with 15 seconds left to help the Titans close out the first period with a score of 5-3.
The Green and White utilized a Pioneers penalty to record a man-up goal, as Eastburn buried a shot off a dish from Boone to extend the lead to three, 6-3, at the 9:51 mark. Powered behind a crucial timeout called by head coach Zach Iannucci that saved a Titan possession, a goal by junior Trystan Seeley (Castle Rock, Colo.-Castle View) pushed the score to 7-3 with 7:45 remaining in the first half.
Transy used back-to-back goals to bring the score to 7-5, but the Green and White closed out the half with goals from Black and Campagna, to finish the first half of action with a score of 9-5.
Illinois Wesleyan wasted no time to begin the second half, as Schroeder buried a shot off a faceoff win to up the lead to five, 10-5, six seconds into the third period. Schroeder then won the following faceoff, leading to freshman Noah Dretzka (Delafield, Wis.-Kettle Moraine) scooping up the ground ball and ripping off a shot at the 14:45 mark, extending the score to 11-5. IWU scored four more times before Transy could end the run, but the damage was already done, as the Titans cruised to a 19-9 victory.
IWU returns to action Wednesday, April 26, in a critical CCIW midweek matchup. The Titans will travel to North Central College, who are also 4-0 in conference play, at 7 p.m.
