Box Score The Aurora University Spartan men's lacrosse program once again made history Wednesday afternoon
on Vago Field, hosting and eventually winning the first Midwest Lacrosse Conference Tournament game by defeating the College of Mt. St. Joseph 9-6.
AU got out to a quick 4-0 lead in the first quarter, scoring three goals in the first 4:32 of the game. Sophomore
Jack Meachum got the scoring started at 11:54 left in the quarter and was quickly followed 19 seconds later by freshman
Max Obriecht. The just over a minute later sophomore
Justin Bose kept the home crowd cheering when he notched his 13th goal of the season.
A couple minutes later Spartan freshman
Danny Loyall tallied his team leading 34th goal of the season of
a beautiful pass through the crease by sophomore
Garret Rosiek for a 4-0 AU lead.
The visiting Lions would respond though after a timeout and go on to score the games next three goals to put pressure on the young Spartans.
Rosiek tallied the last goal of the first half for both teams with 1:46 to play in the opening half to give AU a 5-3 halftime lead.
AU started off the second-half just as they opened the first, scoring goals as the freshman combination of Loyall and Obriecht connected with Obriecht scoring his second goal of the game for a
But Mt. St. Joseph, just as they did in the regular season match-up between the two teams (15-14 AU win), came storming back to score the next three goals in the third quarter and tie the game 6-6.
At the end of three quarters, the game remained tied 6-6 and the break seemed to spark the Spartans. Following a Lion penalty for pushing, the Spartan man-up attack went to work. Meachum fed Loyall from behind the net for a blistering shot past the Lion goalkeeper giving the Spartans a 7-6 lead. The goal came with four second remaining on the man-up advantage.
The Loyall goal awoke the Spartans as Bose scored his second goal of the game at 10:45 in the fourth quarter. AU scored their ninth and the games final goal with 7:09 left to play. As the Lion defense went
into a zone, the Spartans controlled the action and Rosiek was able to find a cutting sophomore
Zachary Olsen who one-timed the ball to the back of the net.
Spartan sophomore goalkeeper
Adam Holka and the AU defense along with a ball-controlling offense ran out the final seven minutes of game clock for the 9-6 win. Holka finished the day with 11 saves while sophomore
Spencer Fuqua forced four turnovers and had a team-high six ground balls.
The win improves AU's season record for wins to 13 (13-3 overall) as well as gives AU their first MLC tournament win and first appearance in the MLC Championship game in just AU's second season of play. The Spartans will travel to Adrian, Michigan for the MLC Tournament Championship and take on the host Adrian College at noon (eastern time).
