DUBUQUE, Iowa – The University of Northwestern men's lacrosse team competed in the MLC Tournament Semifinals on Wednesday evening as the #4 seeded Eagles battled #1 University of Dubuque. The Eagles took four different leads in the opening half, but fell to the top seeded Spartans 6-4.
UNW scored the first goal of the day less than two minutes into the game as
Thomas Alderson (Moorhead, Minn./Moorhead) took a pass from
Isaac Geurink (Wausau, Wis./Wausau East) and launched it into the back of the net. The lead was short lived as Dubuque scored 42 seconds later to even the score at 1-1.
With four minutes remaining in the first quarter,
Joseph Will (Rice Lake, Wis./Rice Lake) found Geurink in space and the junior capitalized, scoring the second goal of the game for the Eagles. 91 seconds later, the Spartans scored to tie the game for the second time.
In a back-and-forth first quarter, Northwestern had the final word as Alderson scored his second goal of the game with just one second remaining on the clock, giving UNW a 3-2 lead through the first 15 minutes of play.
Dubuque would tie the game for the third time early in the second quarter, scoring their third goal less than three minutes into the frame.
Lucas Peters (Lincoln, Neb./Lincoln East) regained the lead for Northwestern, scoring an unassisted goal with 8:06 remaining in the second quarter to give UNW a 4-3 lead.
The Spartans would once again answer swiftly as they capitalized on a man-up situation just 46 seconds after Peters' goal to tie the game at 4-4. Dubuque would score twice more in the quarter, taking their first lead with 4:02 remaining and doubling it with 3:07 on the clock.
The first half would end with the Eagles trailing 4-6 after a dynamic back-and-forth battle. The second half was a completely different story. Both team's offenses would go cold while both defenses proved impenetrable as neither team was able to score in the second half. The second-half shutout favored the Spartans as their halftime lead proved enough to earn the win and send Dubuque to the championship game.
Defensively,
Robert McHenry (Crystal, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong) had his best game of the season in goal for the Eagles. The sophomore recorded 16 saves for a season-high 72.7 save percentage.
Jakob Montesi (Evergreen, Colo./Evergreen) led UNW with five ground balls while winning seven face-offs.
With the season at a close, the Eagles will turn their attention to preparing for next year. To stay up to date with all things UNW Men's Lacrosse, follow the Eagles at @unw_lacrosse on Instagram and right here at unweagles.com.
