Box Score The past two matchups between John Carroll and Illinois Wesleyan have been characterized by high scores. This year's matchup would continue with that trend, and like the previous meetings, the Blue Streaks would be on the wrong side of the ledger.
John Carroll University (2-1) traveled to Bloomington, Illinois to take on Illinois Wesleyan University (3-1). This would be the first time that IWU hosted JCU in the history of the two programs, and the Titans would get the victory, 20-15.
The Blue Streaks would start strong in the first quarter. Each team alternated goals to begin the game, with
Skyler Blake getting the first goal of the game. After IWU tied the game, Blake would give JCU the lead again. The Titans would score once more to tie the game 2-2 with 6:18 remaining in the first.
Brendan Whitty got JCU back on track with a goal that was assisted by Blake, but IWU would tie the game 25 seconds later. Then, with 1:39 left to play, Ryan Crater would break the tie once more with the assist credited to Patrick O'Grady. Crater would find the net again with 19 seconds left. Peyton Elliott had the assist, and the Blue and Gold had a 5-3 lead going into the second quarter.
Illinois Wesleyan's offense broke out in the second quarter as they scored four unanswered goals. The Titans had a 7-5 lead with 7:12 remaining in the half.
Brendan Whitty would respond as he scored his second goal from the assist by
Colin Corcoran. After IWU scored twice after his second, Whitty scored two more times, one unassisted and one assisted by
Cam Gerard. After Illinois Wesleyan scored one more goal,
Skyler Blake scored his third goal of the game.
The Blue Streaks went into halftime trailing the Titans 10-9. Whitty had four goals in the half, and Blake had three goals and an assist.
Illinois Wesleyan started the scoring in the second half scoring less than a minute into the third quarter.
Brendan Whitty responded with another goal, and IWU led 11-10 with 11:17 remaining in the stanza. The Titans, however, would score five unanswered goals to close out the quarter, and they led 16-10 going into the final 15 minutes of play.
JCU fought back scoring the first two goals of the first quarter.
Skyler Blake scored on a man-up opportunity with an assist by
Patrick O'Grady, and
Peyton Elliott would add another soon after to cut the deficit to 16-12. IWU would respond with three consecutive goals.
RP Whitty would get another goal back scoring with 9:57 remaining, but the Titans scored seconds later.
JCU had one more offensive surge late in the game as
RP Whitty netted his second goal of the game with the assist from
Collin Rice. Rice would also score on a man-up opportunity with the assist credited to
Brendan Whitty. However, the Titans would finish out the game and get a 20-15 win.
Skyler Blake and
Brendan Whitty each finished the game with six points, with Whitty scoring five goals and getting an assist, and Blake scoring four goals and recording two assists. Jaco Betz made 14 saves in the contest.
John Carroll University continues their road trip with a game on Thursday, March 8th, as they take on Hope College for the first meeting between the two teams. Face-off is scheduled for 5:00 PM EST/4:00 PM CST.
