Plenty on the Line as Men’s Lacrosse Travels to North Central Wednesday
BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Coming off a dominant performance over Transylvania University Saturday, April 22, the Illinois Wesleyan University men’s lacrosse team will take on North Central College in a key College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin clash Wednesday, April 26. The match will see the top teams in the conference faceoff with the winner securing at least a share of the regular season title.
IWU (10-3, 4-0 CCIW) enters riding a seven-game win streak after a 19-9 victory over Transy (3-10, 2-2 CCIW), April 22. The contest saw senior Carson Kiichle (Vancouver, Wash.-Skyview) finish with eight points on three goals and five assists. Junior Bob Boone (Los Angeles, Calif.-Notre Dame) dished out six assists to set a new career-best. Senior Mason Barney (New Haven, Ind.-R. Nelson Snider) and freshman Kade Miers (Cincinnati, Ohio-St. Xavier) caused a team-best three turnovers each.
North Central (9-4, 4-0 CCIW) enters off a 14-8 victory over CCIW foe Carthage College Saturday, April 22. IWU has won all five previous matchups against the Cardinals, including the most recent meeting April 6, 2022. The Titans defended their home turf with a 16-13 victory. Then-sophomore Trystan Seeley (Castle Rock, Colo.-Castle View) posted a hat trick, while Oximana recorded 15 saves to secure the victory for the Titans.
Illinois Wesleyan has one of the top attacks in the CCIW, leading the league with an average of 17.31 goals per game. Junior Ike Eastburn (Colorado Springs, Colo.-Cheyenne Mountain) leads the Green and White with 38 goals. His average of 2.92 goals per game is sixth-best in the conference, while junior Gage Black’s (Peoria, Ill.-Notre Dame) 2.82 goals per game is eighth. The Titans have the second most assists per game, with an average of 9.23. Carson Kiichle leads the Green and White with 38 assists, while his 2.92 assists per game average leads the league.
Defensively, the Titans are led by junior Michael Campagna (Arlington Heights, Ill.-Saint Viator) and senior Blake Muschewske (Excelsior, Minn.-Holy Family Catholic) with 22 and 19 caused turnovers, respectively. Campagna’s 1.69 caused turnovers per game ranks sixth in the CCIW.
At the X, the Green and White have seen a dominant performance from sophomore Nick Schroeder (Waunakee, Wis.-Waunakee West). For the year, Schroeder has gone 144-for-204 for a league-leading .706 win percentage.
In between the posts, sophomore Colin Tervo (West Linn, Ore.-West Linn) leads the squad with 477 minutes logged. In that time, Tervo has recorded 96 saves on a .525 save percentage with a 7-2 record. Junior Alex Oximana (Seattle, Wash.-Bishop Blanchet) has notched 46 saves on a .554 clip in 210 minutes with a 1-1 record.
A link to the live stream and live stats can be found on the men’s lacrosse schedule page on iwusports.com.
