Men's Lacrosse Slashes Cougars on Senior Day

MEQUON, Wis. – Saturday saw the CUW men's lacrosse team show out on Senior Day to take the convincing 18-1 victory over the Cougars of Concordia Chicago.  

With the win, the Falcons improved to 8-4 overall and 3-1 in Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) play. 

Concordia's trend of defending home turf also continued, as the victory moved them to 4-1 from Fitting Field. 

The senior-to-senior connection was on full display as 38 seconds into the contest, senior Liam McGarva (Fort Saskatchewan, Alta.), on a pass from fellow senior Caleb Ruger (Grafton, Wis.), opened the scoring. 

A couple of minutes later, freshman Bryce Petersen (Waukesha, Wis.) added another goal on a pass from freshman Tyler Husby (Eagan, Minn.). 

The first quarter saw the Falcons tally three more goals as junior Max Esposito (Gaithersburg, Md.) and junior Gio Nowotarski (Readding, Pa.) joined the mix. Liam McGarva once again found the back of the net with 17 seconds left in the quarter to help build CUW's lead to 5-0 following 15 minutes of action. Senior Isaac Ober (Huntley, Ill.) assisted on McGarva's goal.  

CUW's scoring barrage continued into the second quarter. Senior Matthew Sierzega (Grayslake, Ill.) scored early in the frame, while Bryce Peteresen, on a pass from Caleb Ruger, scored again. 

From the 9:55 to 7:00 mark, the Falcons grew their lead to 9-0 as junior Hunter Swazey (Escondido, Calif) beat the Cougar's goalie, while Caleb Ruger recorded back-to-back goals, as Bryce Petersen and Liam McGarva tallied assists. 

The final goal of the first half came courtesy of Max Esposito, who capitalized on the man-up opportunity to give CUW an 11-0 lead. 

Out of the break, senior Parker Beaudry (Sherwood Park, Alta.) found the back of the goal early in the third quarter. 

After a CUC goal, Tyler Husby scored with 7:12 left, as Bryce Petersen recorded another assist.

Later in the quarter, junior Connor Lang found senior Brett Dowler (Tyrone, Ga.) open, leading to another CUW goal. 

Hunter Swazey and Bryce Petersen scored the final goals of the quarter to increase the Falcons' advantage to 16-1. 

Meanwhile, the final quarter saw the flock add two goals as junior Scott Lileks (Boise, Idaho) put away the man-down goal, while senior Flynn Spano (St. Louis Park, Minn.) capped off his senior day with a man-up goal. Sophomore Frank Trewyn (Mukwonago, Wis.) recorded the assist, putting the score at 18-1. 

In total, the Falcons saw 12 different members record a goal while nine recorded assists in the victory, as Bryce Petersen led the Falcons in both categories, scoring three goals and tallying five assists. 

Meanwhile, three Falcons, Frank Trweyn, Bryce Petersen, and junior Cooper Fellows (De Pere, Wis.), recorded four ground balls. 

Defensively, junior Michael Lange (Brookfield, Wis.), Parker Beaudry, sophomore Devin Goetsch (Appleton, Wis.), and freshman Alex Hayden (Oak Park, Ill.) all had two. 

As a team, CUW went perfect on the face-off as Frank Trewyn went 11-of-11, while freshman Jaxon Hill (Bismarck, N.D.) went 10-10.

Meanwhile, freshman Travis Marquardt improved to 8-3 and recorded one save. 

The Blue and White will have a quick break before returning to the field as they host the Marian Sabres on Monday, with the initial faceoff slated for 4:00 p.m.