Esposito Breaks Points Record in Last Second Victory

MILWAUKEE, Wis. – The CUW men's lacrosse team traveled to MSOE to take on the Raiders in their second-to-last conference matchup of the regular season.

With the victory, the Falcons clinched a 2023 NACC Tournament berth.

The Raiders opened the scoring just 1:57 into the matchup.

The Falcons answered just over two minutes later off the stick of sophomore Pat Ryan (Western Springs, Ill.). He was assisted by senior Jack Gromosky (Danville, Ind.).

MSOE scored their second goal to take a 2-1 lead.

The Falcons ended the first quarter with a man-up goal off the stick of sophomore Gio Nowotarski (Reading, Pa.) with an assist from sophomore Max Esposito (Gaithersburg, Md.).

Junior Caleb Ruger (Grafton. Wis.) opened the second quarter with a bang on an unassisted goal just over one minute into the frame. Max Esposito sank the fourth Falcon goal just 1:43 later.

MSOE scored their third goal to answer.

Freshman Jason Michalski (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich.) and senior Matthew Sierzega (Grayslake, Ill.) went back-to-back for the fifth and sixth Falcon goals. Michalski was assisted by sophomore Chase Drexler (Vernon Hills, Ill.) and Sierzega was assisted by Ruger.

MSOE ended the half with their fourth goal.

The Blue and White held a 6-4 advantage heading into the second half.

MSOE cut the deficit to one with their fifth goal.

Ruger found Esposito for the seventh Falcon goal and Pat Ryan found Gio Nowotarski for the seventh and eighth Falcon goals of the game. Nowotarski's goal was his second man-up goal of the game.

The Raiders scored their sixth goal to answer.

Nowotarski netted his hat-trick goal with 6:10 remaining in the third quarter.

MSOE scored four-straight goals to take the 10-9 lead.

Caleb Ruger found the back of the net to tie the game at 10 heading into the final frame.

The Falcons opened the fourth quarter with a goal from Pat Ryan. He was assisted by Max Esposito who broke the record for points in a season with the assist which was set by now-assistant coach Keijo Day in 2022 at 87 points.

The Raiders answered with their 11th goal.

Esposito and Ryan went back-to-back to take a 13-11 lead. Ryan was assisted by Ruger.

MSOE tied the game at 13 with 1:36 left in the fourth quarter.

Nowotarski, who isn't a stranger to last-second goals, netted the game-winning goal off an assist from Max Esposito to lift the Falcons past the MSOE Raiders and lay claim to another NACC Tournament berth.

The Falcons finish their regular season with a matchup at Illinois Tech on Saturday.