Men’s Lacrosse Readies for Rematch in CCIW Tournament Semis
Story Links
BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Less than a week after meeting in the regular season finale, the Illinois Wesleyan University men’s lacrosse team and Carthage College will square off again Thursday, May 4, in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Tournament Semifinals. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m. under the lights in Tucci Stadium.
The regular season closed out with a 19-18 win over the Firebirds, April 29, as the Titans claimed their fifth straight CCIW Regular Season outright and earned the No. 1 seed in this week’s tournament. Junior Trystan Seeley (Castle Rock, Colo.-Castle View) led the Titan offense with team-highs of five goals and seven points, a new career-best. Senior Carson Kiichle (Vancouver, Wash.-Skyview) notched six points on a team-best six assists.
Illinois Wesleyan and Carthage have a fair amount of postseason history, having met in the CCIW Tournament three times. All three meetings have come in the CCIW Tournament Championship, with the meetings coming in three consecutive years from 2016 to 2018. IWU won two of the previous three meetings, with Carthage taking the initial meeting in 2016 by a 13-8 tally.
In all, the Titans and Firebirds have squared off 13 times ahead of Thursday night’s tilt. IWU leads the all-time series by a slim 7-5 margin and has won the last seven clashes.
The Titans headlined the All-CCIW selections, tying for most accolades in the league with seven, while head coach Zach Iannucci earned Coach of the Year honors after leading his squad to a fifth-straight CCIW Regular Season Championship. Carson Kiichle, junior Gage Black (Peoria, Ill.-Dunlap), and sophomore Nick Schroeder (Waunakee, Wis.-Waunakee) were named First Team All-CCIW. Seniors Connor Kiichle (Vancouver, Wash.-Skyview) and Blake Muschewske (Excelsior, Minn.-Holy Family Catholic) and juniors Michael Campagna (Arlington Heights, Ill.-Saint Viator) and Bob Boone (Los Angeles, Calif.-Notre Dame) landed on the All-CCIW Second Team.
The winner of Thursday’s semifinal will meet the winner of the semifinal between No. 2 seed North Central and third-seeded Transylvania Saturday, May 6, at 1 p.m.
