Men's Lacrosse Falls Short Against Elmhurst

MEQUON, Wis. – The Concordia Wisconsin men's lacrosse team took on the Elmhurst Bluejays in a non-conference contest on Saturday afternoon, falling to its one-loss opponent by a 17-9 score.

Elmhurst jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in the first quarter before the Falcons battled back to within one due to goals from senior Matthew Sierzga (Grayslake, Ill.) and junior Max Esposito (Gaithersburg, Md.). Fellow junior Gio Nowotarski (Reading, Pa.) also tallied a goal in the frame, which saw the BlueJays lead 5-3 after its conclusion.

Concordia rattled off three consecutive goals to open the second quarter to take its first lead of the game. Esposito, senior Caleb Ruger (Grafton, Wis.), and senior leading-scorer Parker Beaudry (Sherwood Park, Alta.) took responsibility for the goals, but Elmhurst built up a scoring run of its own to take a 10-6 lead into the break.

Beaudry opened the second half with a goal for the Falcons, but the Bluejays once again managed to finish the quarter on a scoring run, potting the final four goals of the period.

Nowotarski and Ruger collected goals in the fourth quarter to close the game for the Falcons, which saw a 17-9 score at its conclusion.

While recording two goals for Concordia in the contest, Esposito had the most involvement on scoring plays, recording five assists in the outing. The mark ties for seventh all-time in program history.

Freshman goaltender Travis Marquardt (Brookfield, Wis.) stopped 14 shots over the game's 60 minutes, which represents his second-highest tally in his seven career starts.

The Falcons will look to get back into the win column in their next outing against the 4-3 Carthage Firebirds on March 20, which will be the team's final game before beginning conference play.