For the second year in a row, the John Carroll University men's lacrosse team goes into the OAC Tournament as the top seed and regular season champions.
JCU (10-4, 8-0 OAC) went through the OAC regular season defeating every team in the conference schedule. The Blue Streaks clinched home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. JCU hosts the fourth seed, Otterbein University (8-9, 5-3 OAC), in the OAC Tournament semifinal round on Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m.
Both the offense and defense of JCU has been impressive, and it would propel them to success in OAC play. Overall, the Blue Streaks have scored 181 goals in 14 games, averaging 12.93 goals per game, while opponents average seven goals. In the eight OAC matchups that were played, JCU averaged 14.5 goals per game, and opponents averaged about 4.9 goals per game.
The first season for Skyler Blake at the collegiate level has been one to remember. He currently leads the team in goals scoring 39 thus far. His 51 points makes him the leader in the category, also. Declan O'Grady has made his mark this season as well. The senior has tallied 27 goals and 14 assists giving him 41 points, which is second on the team in that category.
Defensively, Bryan Neitzelt has continued his success from last year leading the Blue Streaks in caused turnovers with 26 this season. His 51 ground balls are second to Gary Anile, who has 54 on the year. In goal, Kyle Lake has a save percentage of 53.4 percent making 103 saves, he has a 7.44 goals-against average.
The matchup against Otterbein on Wednesday night will be the second meeting in five days between the two teams. Last Saturday, the Blue Streaks defeated the Cardinals 12-5 clinching the OAC Regular Season Championship outright. Skyler Blake, and Connor Pike each notched three goals in the contest. Michael Hubert would also register three goals, and that would give him 100 points over his two seasons on the team.
John Carroll University is looking to repeat as OAC Tournament champions. The Blue and Gold have been in two of the three previous championship games.
The winner of the game between John Carroll and Otterbein will move on to the OAC Championship Game on Saturday against the third-seeded Capital Crusaders. The championship game will be played on Saturday with the team that has the higher seed hosting. The scheduled time is 1:00 p.m.
