The John Carroll University men's lacrosse team may have scored a season-best 13 goals against Illinois Wesleyan, but ultimately the Blue Streaks still came up short against the Titans of Illinois Wesleyan University on Sunday afternoon by a final score of 17-13.

A high scoring game is not unusual when these two teams meet. 86 total goals had been scored between the two teams over the first three match-ups. it also helps offensive production when one of the team - Illinois Wesleyan -- led the nation in goals per game (21.90) and a scoring margin of +9.85 in 2018. 

Add another 30 goals to that total after today.
    
Patrick O'Grady got the Blue Streaks on the board, scoring the first goal of the less than two minutes in. The Titans then came back ablaze, responding with a four-minute, 4-0 run to take a 4-1 lead by the 9:06 mark. The JCU defense held the Titans scoreless for the rest of the quarter, but two more Blue Streak goals by Skyler Blake and Kevin Hack put the Blue Streaks back to within one of the Titans (4-3).

John Carroll's momentum continued into the second period, with the Blue Streaks outscoring the Titans 5-2. By the end of the first half, the Blue and Gold took their largest lead of the match (2) with the score being 8-6. Brendan Whitty scored two of the goals in addition to being awarded the assist the final goal of the quarter by Cam Gerard.   

Neither offense let up at the start of the second half, with both teams going on separate 4-0 runs to make the score 12-10 in favor of the Blue Streaks. In the final minute, however, Rick Smith fired two shots that found the back of the net to tie the score at 12-12 heading to the fourth period.

The stage seemed set for a dramatic finish, but there would not be much drama over the final 15 minutes as Illinois Wesleyan went on a run that John Carroll could not answer. The final period belonged to the Titans, who outscored the Blue Streaks 5-1.

Login Collins led the Blue Streak offense, totaling a team- and career-high four goals in the game, with Hack following with three. Collins and Whitty also finished leading the team in points (4). While Collins' points came straight from goals, Whitty's points resulted from two goals and two assists.

Defensively, Aiden Hubbell finished with a team-high three caused turnovers, while Clayton Karam tallied two. Karam also led the team in ground balls (10).
 
Illinois Wesleyan was led by Smith, who recorded four goals, two assists, and three ground balls.

With the loss, the Blue Streaks even out to 2-2 on the season, while the Titans improve to 3-0. IWU is now 4-0 in match-ups against the Blue Streaks, and becomes thew first team to beat John Carroll three times at Don Shula Stadium. For perspective, today's defeat was just the eighth loss in 46 home games for JCU since the Blue & Gold's inaugural season of 2014.

John Carroll will next host Albion College (1-3) in game two of a lacrosse doubleheader at Don Shula Stadium on Wednesday, March 13 at 7 p.m. The women's team will be taking on the Yeowomen of Oberlin College at 4 p.m.