DUBUQUE, Iowa – For the third consecutive season, the University of Northwestern Men's Lacrosse team traveled to the University of Dubuque for the Midwest Lacrosse Conference Tournament Semifinals. The Eagles entered the game red-hot, touting a three-game winning streak, but much like the previous two instances, Northwestern wasn't able to advance to the championship on Wednesday afternoon. Dubuque overcame a slow start to win 13-4 and end UNW's season.
The Eagles seized momentum to start the game, as
Sam Moses (Wausau, Wis./Wausau East) scored on Northwestern's first shot of the game, just 47 seconds in. After nearly five more minutes went by, Dubuque began to prove why it has been a perennial MLC power. The Spartans scored three times in 57 seconds to take command of the game and led 3-1 after one quarter.
Dubuque continued to fill it up in the second quarter, tacking on another five goals to take an 8-1 lead into halftime. The Spartans added three more to open the third before
Alex Petersen (Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake) found the back of the cage at the 4:55 mark to trim the deficit to 11-2. Dubuque scored once more before the end of the period to take a 12-2 advantage into the final stanza.
The Spartans scored early in the fourth to take a 13-2 lead, but UNW closed the game strong. Moses netted his second goal of the day with 5:02 left, then
Austin Lemke (Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Saint Croix Lutheran Academy) sent a rocket into the cage at the 1:38 mark to make the final score 13-4. Northwestern's final season ended with a 6-6 overall record and a 2-2 conference record.
It was only fitting that Moses and
Jared Schultz (Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial), the two team captains, anchored the offense and defense, respectively, in their final game in purple. Moses finished with two goals while Schultz caused a game-high five turnovers and collected six ground balls. In fact, despite what the scoreboard said, UNW actually won handily in both the caused turnover (11-7) and ground ball (39-30) categories. Lemke added the only other Northwestern goal, while
Ryan Adkins (St. Michael, Minn./St. Michael-Albertville) snagged 12 ground balls and won 12 of 21 faceoffs in his final game.
Khoa Vu (Shakopee, Minn./Shakopee),
Joseph Kalski (Oak Creek, Wis./Oak Creek) and
Jakob Montesi (Evergreen, Colo./Evergreen) each tallied three ground balls, with the latter causing three turnovers as well.
Robert McHenry (Crystal, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong), who on Monday was named MLC Defensive Player of the Week, made 12 saves in cage to close out his career.
With this being the final Northwestern Men's Lacrosse game, we would like to extend a sincere thank you to all the players, coaches and fans who have poured into the program over the years.
