DUBUQUE, Iowa – University of Northwestern Men's Lacrosse traveled down to University of Dubuque for a Midwest Lacrosse Conference Tournament Semifinal contest on Wednesday afternoon. The No. 3 tournament seed Eagles fell 18-10 to the No. 2 seed Spartans, closing out their 2023 season in the conference playoffs.
Austin Lemke (Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Saint Croix Lutheran Academy) provided an offensive spark for UNW, scoring five goals on eight shots against Dubuque.
Christian Mitchell (Oak Grove, Minn./PACT Charter School) was a key facilitator for the Eagles, assisting with three goals in the game while scoring one of his own for a four-point game.
Ryan Adkins (St. Michael, Minn./St. Michael-Albertville) continued his dominance in the faceoff X against conference opponents, winning 19-of-27 in the game. Adkins had a 79 percent success rate in faceoffs in conference games this past season, the highest in the conference by over eight percent.
On defense,
Jakob Montesi (Evergreen, Colo./Evergreen) led the Eagles with three caused turnovers. Adkins had a team-high 14 grounds balls due in part to his successful faceoff work. Montesi followed with five grounds balls in the game.
UNW started the game strong out the gate, scoring twice in the first minute and 35 seconds to take an early lead. The Spartans and Eagles then traded goals as Northwestern held a 3-1 lead midway through the opening frame, but then Dubuque started a run of 10-consecutive goals to take an 11-3 lead with five and a half minutes remaining until halftime.
Both teams scored again before the half as the Spartans took a 12-4 lead into halftime. In the second half, UNW and Dubuque each scored six goals as the Spartans wrapped up an 18-10 win.
To keep up with all things UNW Men's Lacrosse, follow the team on Instagram at @unw_lacrosse as well as right here at unweagles.com.
