After a slow start Wednesday afternoon on Vago Field, the Aurora University Spartan men's lacrosse team
held on to defeat the visiting Griffins of Fontbonne University 7-6 in a Midwest Lacrosse Conference contest.
AU freshman midfielder
Justin Bose scored the games first goal with :09 seconds to play in the first period of the game. The two teams played a quiet period up to that point with no penalty's.
Physical play picked up in the second period with the Spartans being called for three pentalites that the AU man-down team was able to overcome and hold a 1-0 lead.
The AU man-up special teams got their first chance with one minute to play in the first-half after an offside
s called on the Griffins. With seven seconds left on the man-up opportunity, freshman midfielder Zack Olsen found the back of the net off an assist from freshman attackman
Garret Rosiek.
Following the goal, Griffin senior defender Luke Fallstrom was found with an illegal stick giving the Spartans an additional man-up opportuniy. Several seconds later, Rosiek found Bose with a pass that Bose promtply blew past Griffin sophomore goalkeeper Chad Meurer giving AU a 3-0 lead heading into overtime.
AU freshman goalkeeper
Adam Holka had six saves in the first half for AU while Meurer had three.
The second half was much more offensive compared to the opening half and Fontbonne came out of the intermission firing on all cylinders. 18 seconds into the third period, Griffin sophomore Adam Walker scored the first of three goals. Fontbonne cut the Spartan lead to 3-2 at 8:14 in the third period on a goal by sophomore midfielder Tucker Nickols.
Less than a minute later, Olsen scored his second goal off an assist by Bose. Olsen struck again 30 seconds into the fourth period giving AU a commanding 5-2 lead.
Fontbonne was not finished though as the Griffins went on to score three times over the next six minutes t
o tie the game 5-5.
Just seconds after the Griffins knotted the game at five, the Spartans and Bose answered. Bose's third goal of the game gave AU a 6-5 lead.
AU freshman attackman
Pat Diorka took a beautiful pass from Rosiek for the eventual game-winning goal.
The Griffins scored again with 3:15 to play, cutting the Spartan lead to one at 7-6. The Spartan defense held strong over the final minutes and when AU regained possession with 1:30 to play, the Spartan offense was able to control play and run out the clock for the win.
Top performers for the Spartans included Bose who finished with three goals and one assist, Olsen had three goals, Rosiek had three assists, Diorka had the game winning goal and Holka had nine saves for his fifth win of the season.
With the win, AU is now 5-4 overall and 2-1 in the MLC while Fontbonne is now 2-8 overall and 0-3 in the MLC.
