Aurora University Athletics

The Aurora University Spartans hosted the visiting Red Men of Carthage College on Saturday afternoon on Vago Field in a non-conference showdown. AU entered the match up having never lost to Carthage in six previous contests.
 

The Spartans and Red Men have had a long rivalry since the dawn of the Aurora University program and the Spartans proved to be the dominant force as the beat the Red Men 9-3 only allowing goals in the second quarter.
 

The Spartans and Red Men took the field and both teams were stifled by the opposing defense in the opening quarter. Between the pipes for AU, Cameron Brooks stood tall for the defense bolstering six saves and two ground balls. The Spartans had several good shots early in the first, but unable to sneak a goal the game remained scoreless going into the second quarter.
 

The Spartans and Red Men took the field in the second with a different attitude after the scoreless first. Spartan senior Max Obriecht broke the silence off an assist from Nolan Miller with the first goal of the game 58 seconds into in the second quarter. The Red Men responded quickly with a high to high shot to tie the game under two minutes later.

The Spartans and Red Men then traded blows for the next several minutes with AU senior Danny Loyall scoring with a Jason Koziol assist. Carthage then scored twice to tae the momentum and a 3-2 lead with 7:02 to play. Little did the crowd know at the time but that would be the last Carthage goal of the game. Miller tied the game up at 3-3 with his goal at 4:57 left in the half. The Spartans scored two additional goals before the end of the half, one from sophomore Trevor McNamara with an assist from Garret Rosiek and the second of the day from Obriecht.
 

The second half held a different story for the visiting Red Men as the Aurora Spartans delivered a punishing half, completely suffocating the visitors on the defensive end of the field. All while scoring an additional four goals, several of highlight nature.

AU got two goals in the third quarter one from Loyall with a Koziol assist and freshman JK Torres added an unassisted goal. Midway through the fourth quarter, the Spartans still led only by four at 7-3 but the highlight goals were on deck. The first coming as Miller found a streaking Rosiek who one-timed the ball into the back of the net. Just seconds later, Rosiek sent a pass through the crease to a diving Obriecht who quickly flicked the ball into the net and the home crowd was in a frenzy.

The momentum stayed with the Spartans as they forced seven turnovers in the game while going 17-of-18 on clears. With the win, AU is now 7-6 overall and 3-0 in the MLC. Next action for the Spartan men's lacrosse comes on Wednesday, April 8 when they travel to Cornell College. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m. in Mount Vernon, Iowa.