Men’s Lacrosse Advances in NCAA Tournament with Win over Aurora
BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Powered by seven goals from junior Ike Eastburn (Colorado Springs, Colo.-Cheyenne Mountain), the Illinois Wesleyan University men’s lacrosse team took down Aurora University, 19-10, in the first round of the NCAA Division III Men’s Lacrosse Tournament inside Tucci Stadium Wednesday, May 10. With the win, the Titans (15-3) will head to Granville, Ohio, for a Saturday afternoon showdown against host and No. 13 ranked Denison University.
Eastburn paved the way for the Green and White with seven goals, while senior Carson Kiichle (Vancouver, Wash.-Skyview) also produced a seven point game, as he finished with three goals and a match-high four assists as IWU won its 12th straight. Junior Trystan Seeley (Castle Rock, Colo.-Castle View) net five goals in the contest.
Defensively, senior Blake Muschewske (Excelsior, Minn.-Holy Family Catholic) led the Titans with three caused turnovers, while adding six ground balls. Senior Connor Kiichle (Vancouver, Wash.-Skyview) and juniors Michael Campagna (Arlington Heights, Ill.-Saint Viator) and Ethan Hart (Littleton, Colo.-J.K. Mullen) each added a pair of caused turnovers.
At the X, sophomore Nick Schroeder (Waunakee, Wis.-Waunakee) continued his dominant season, as he finished 22-for-27, good for a faceoff win percentage of .815. Junior Zo Lombardo (Elgin, Ill.-Saint Viator) added four wins on four attempts.
Sophomore Colin Tervo (West Linn, Ore.-West Linn) picked up his 11th win of the season, as he made six saves while allowing three goals in the first half of action. Junior Alex Oximana (Seattle, Wash.-Bishop Blanchet) closed out the game in net, adding seven saves with seven goals allowed in 30 minutes of work.
Illinois Wesleyan came out hot, rattling off the game’s first four goals. Junior Bob Boone (Los Angeles, Calif.-Notre Dame) found Carson Kiichle to get things rolling three and a half minutes into the game.
Five minutes later, Eastburn net his first goal of the day to double the Titan lead, 2-0. Hart after forcing a key caused turnover on a clear, scored with five minutes left in the period and Seeley finished the run with a strike 29 seconds after to up the lead to 4-0.
Aurora notched its first goal of the game with just under two minutes remaining in the period, but sophomore Jake Gisi (Wentzville, Mo.-Chaminade College Prep) found Eastburn for a goal with just a few ticks on the clock to push IWU ahead, 5-1, into the second.
Illinois Wesleyan matched its goal total in the second period, expanding its lead to 10-3 into halftime. The quarter featured three straight goals from Eastburn to begin the frame, with Connor Kiichle and Seeley accounting for the other two. Seeley’s goal came with 3.7 seconds on the clock and snapped a two-goal run from the Spartans to give the Titans a seven-goal lead at the break.
After Aurora opened the second half of action with two straight goals, Carson Kiichle dished a pass to Ike Eastburn at the 11:22 mark to up the score to 11-5 in favor of IWU. The Spartans recorded the next goal, but three straight scores from the Titans expanded the lead to 14-6 with 3:59 remaining in the third. AU would bring the score to 14-7 with a goal to close out the third period of action.
Seeley cracked open the fourth, as he notched his fourth goal of the game with 13:38 remaining to help secure the win. Aurora went on to score three of the next four goals, but IWU closed out the match with the final three scores to bring the game to a close, 19-10, in favor of the Titans.
Illinois Wesleyan will face 13th-ranked Denison in the next round of the NCAA Tournament. Action is set to begin at 1 p.m. ET on the Big Red’s campus Saturday, May 13. Information regarding the match, along with the rest of the NCAA Tournament, can be found under the men’s lacrosse schedule on iwusports.com.
