Falcons drops intense matchup to Aurora in battle of MLC unbeatens

MEQUON, Wis. – Concordia Wisconsin or Aurora was going to walk off Fitting Field on a rainy Saturday afternoon with the MLC regular season title in hand, and it was the Spartans who earned the 14-9 hard-fought matchup and the No. 1 seed in the MLC Tournament.

THE BASICS
Final Score: Aurora 14, Concordia Wisconsin 9
Location: Fitting Field (Mequon, Wis.)
Records: Aurora 14-2, 6-0 MLC; Concordia Wisconsin 11-4, 5-1 MLC

HOW IT HAPPENED
- Aurora jumped out to a quick 5-1 lead after the opening quarter and had built enough momentum to carry it throughout the rest of the game. The Spartans held leads of 9-3 in the third period and 12-5 in the early stages of the fourth quarter.
- Statistics were even across the box score, however, Aurora's ability to on successive possession gave the visitors an advantage.
- The Spartans earned the No. 1 seed in the MLC Tournament, while the Falcons will be the No. 2 seed and host a semifinal game on Wednesday.
- Senior Zachary Foster (Calgary, Alberta) was the go-to offensive threat for Concordia Wisconsin with a career-best five goals. Senior Marino Best (Nanaimo, British Columbia) recorded a hat trick and junior Colin Raley (Inverness, Ill.) found the back of the net once.
- Senior Danny Bundra (Lake Zurich, Ill.) won seven faceoffs and freshman Jack Melby (Eagan, Minn.) was successful on 4-of-8 faceoff attempts. Senior Zachary Doll (Kirkwood, Mo.) picked up six ground balls and senior Mark Wilson had five ground balls.
- Junior Benjamin Smith (Round Lake Beach, Ill.) led all players with a career-high six caused turnovers, to go along with four ground balls and a career-best two assists.
- Freshman Garrett Wohlford (Rochester, Minn.) made eight saves in goal.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- Smith's six caused turnovers were tied for the third most in a game in program history.
- The Falcons will host their second MLC Tournament game in program history on Wednesday.

THE OPPOSITION
- Jason Koziol led the Spartans with four goals, while Bailey Smith and Nick Glaser each had a hat trick. Matt Sammarco and JK Torres each had a pair of scores, respectively.
- Matt Smidlein won 15-of-26 faceoffs and picked up eight ground balls, while Trevor McNamara had five ground balls and two caused turnovers.
- Brian Richter made seven saves and earned the victory after playing 40:51.

NEXT ON THE SCHEDULE
- The Falcons host Benedictine on Wednesday at 4 pm in a semifinal MLC Tournament contest at Fitting Field.