Spartans Sneak Past Men's Lacrosse

MONTGOMERY, Ill. – The Falcons came up short against longtime rival, Aurora on Saturday afternoon. The Spartans defended home turf with a 12-8 victory to remain undefeated in NACC play and improve to 10-5 and 6-0 in the NACC. The loss sends CUW to 8-6 and 4-2 in the conference.

The Spartans struck first with a goal in the first minute of play on Saturday.

The Falcons countered back with a goal from freshman Max Esposito (Gaithersburg, Md.) when he juked past a defender and found the five-hole.

The Black and Blue scored once more in the first quarter to take a 2-1 lead into the second quarter.

The Spartans struck first in the second quarter, but the Falcons cut into the deficit when senior Keijo Day (Esko, Minn.) sent the ball into the upper-left corner of the net on the man advantage off an assist from sophomore Caleb Ruger (Grafton, Wis.).

Aurora pushed the lead to 5-2 when junior Jack Gromosky (Danville, Ind.) crashed the net and scored.

Sophomore Adam Verner (Portage, Mich.) found Max Esposito lurking in front of the net to cut the Aurora lead to 6-4 with 3:48 left in the first half.

Adam Verner sent the ball into the far low corner with 1:52 left in the second half, but the Spartans added one more goal before halftime to lead 8-5.

Keijo Day found the back of the net in the first minute of the third quarter with a defender glued to him.

The Falcons made it a one-goal game heading into the fourth quarter with goals from Keijo Day and freshman Chase Drexler (Vernon Hills, Ill.), but the Spartans used a 3-0 run in the fourth quarter to secure the victory.

Junior Adam Nichols (Meridian, Idaho) had a .600 save percentage in the net on Saturday with 18 saves against the Spartans.

Keijo Day finished with a game-high three goals and led CUW with two caused turnovers. Max Esposito also had three points on two goals and an assist.

The Spartans held a 60-34 shots advantage on the day.

Jack Gromosky had four ground balls to lead the flock.

The Falcons will fly north to Wisconsin to close out the regular season at home. CUW hosts first-place MSOE on Wednesday and Illinois Tech on Saturday.