MONMOUTH, ILL. – The University of Northwestern men's lacrosse team soared to a triumphant 6-5 double overtime victory over Monmouth College [2-5 overall] Friday night in Illinois. Boosting their win streak to two, the Eagles advance to 2-3 on the season.

MC took control in the first 15:00 frame, fronting a 1-0 lead over UNW. By the 7:10 mark in the second quarter, Northwestern was able to tie the contest 1-1, but Monmouth's offense fired two more into the net to take a 3-1 advantage into the locker room.  

With efforts that didn't quite, the Eagles held the Scots to a scoreless third period, while they went on to tally a lone goal to lift the score 3-2 – still in the home teams favor.

With six minutes remaining in regulation, UNW used back-to-back goals to gain its first lead of the game [4-3]. Four minutes later, MC dropped two more goals to jump ahead 5-4, but Northwestern managed to secure one more [5-5] before time ran out to send the match into overtime.   

Both teams struggled offensively in the first extended session, battling to a scoreless term with the score still tied 5-5. As the hard-fought, second overtime frame came down to the wire, Gavin Welch (Buffalo, Minn./Buffalo) knocked in the game-winning goal with two minutes left on the ticker to secure the 6-5 sudden-death victory over MC.

Noah Vander Kooi (Buffalo, Minn./Buffalo) put together an outstanding performance, as the freshman attacker finished with a career-high five goals on the successful evening. Following suit, Welch tapped in one goal [game-winner] on the contest, while teammate Steven Soto (Kenosha, Wis. /Bradford) capped off the night's competition by winning an impressive 8-of-14 face offs on the defensive end. Goalkeeper Zach Shockencey (Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater) concluded with 10 saves [out of MC's 15 shots on goal], respectively.

As a team, the purple and gold ended with a grand total 25 shots [18 SOG], 23 ground balls, and went 22-37 on clears.

Head Coach Joel Friebe commented, "The team battled hard the entire second half, and throughout the added minutes of play. We played our game and locked down on Monmouth defensively, and because of that, we came out on top. We did what we needed to do, and that was match MC's high intensity and high energy. I am proud of the players tonight because they showed what they were capable of."

The squad will take on North Central University on Tuesday, March 21, in its first-ever home contest at Reynolds Field. Draw time is slated for 7 p.m. Fans can find more information on the men's lacrosse team by visiting unweagles.com.