When the season began, the John Carroll University men's lacrosse team set out with one goal in mind: repeat as Ohio Athletic Conference champions.

With a gritty effort from beginning to end on Saturday afternoon, the Blue Streaks made sure they stood alone atop the OAC.  

John Carroll edged past the Capital Crusaders, 11-8, at Don Shula Stadium in University Heights, Ohio, to win the 2017 OAC Tournament Championship.

The win secured a perfect 10-0 record in conference play in 2017 – the first time they have accomplished such a feat. It also checks off their number one priority heading into the campaign. "That's the main goal we set this January," said head coach Joe Rautenstrauch. "You never want to lose your last game on your home field."

Mission accomplished.

Seniors Declan O'Grady and Michael Hubert each recorded a hat trick to account for more than half of the JCU offense. Junior Collin Rice represented the team's primary distributor by tying a season-high three assists behind the stout defense of senior Kyle Lake (seven saves) between the pipes.

Capital drew first blood as Teddy Crites slid his way past the Blue Streaks defense for his ninth goal of the campaign, a close-distance score on a well-placed pass from Brent Walton. The Blue and Gold wasted no time in responding courtesy of O'Grady and Hubert with a pair of unassisted goals. After one quarter, the score stayed put at 2-1.

The low-scoring affair kept the tally unchanged for the first nine minutes and 27 seconds of the second period before a barrage of scoring. Hubert found the back of the net for the second time to expand the advantage to 3-1.

Once more, the Crusaders answered the call with two goals by Brennan O'Callaghan – the OAC leader in goals entering play (57) – and Crites, his second of the contest. The even score would not last long as Skyler Blake registered his first score to yield the Blue and Gold a 4-3 lead heading to the intermission.

Unlike the second quarter, both teams came out firing out with another rapid exchange of goals between O'Callaghan and O'Grady. The latter registered two scores to force opposing head coach Dom Marzano to take a timeout with 5:39 remaining in the period.

Ryan Rampi and O'Callaghan netted another two goals to give them 27 and 60 on the spring season respectively. Sandwiched between the goals were a pair of nifty shots and goals from Connor Pike to pave way to a slim 8-6 advantage with 15 final minutes left in regulation.

JCU outscored the Crusaders 3-2 the rest of the way thanks to Hubert, Dakota Thomas and R.P. Whitty finding the back of the net.

Senior Tommy Adolf spoke before the game about the relentlessness of the team he has loved since its inception in 2014. "If this is the last game, then we'd like to leave everything on the field." Scattered lacrosse sticks were the only thing left on the field as JCU began to celebrate back-to-back titles.

With the victory, the Blue Streaks move on to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in as many years. Dates, times and locations for the national competition will be determined on Sunday.