The way the Ohio Athletic Conference men's lacrosse tiebreaker process was set up essentially asked John Carroll to not only beat Ohio Northern Saturday night to make the postseason for a sixth straight year, but the algorithm asked the Blue Streaks to win by at least six goals.

Essentially, JCU was spotting the visiting Polar Bears a 6-0 lead when play began tonight at Shula Stadium.

A seven goal scoring spree in the third quarter smashed the algorithm and punched the Blue Streaks ticket into the Ohio Athletic Conference tournament for the sixth consecutive season. The Blue and Gold — who have won the OAC Tournament Championship the last three seasons — will take a six-game win streak into the postseason thanks to an 18-10 victory.

The Blue Streaks wasted no time to make their mark on the scoreboard, scoring the first goal two minutes into the match. JCU's leading goal scorer on the season, junior Skyler Blake, sparked a scoring spree with the opening goal. That led to the Blue and Gold scoring the first four goals of the contest.

Although John Carroll held the early 4-0 advantage, Ohio Northern rallied at the end of the first quarter with two goals within the final five minutes. ONU's second goal came with 15 seconds remaining, cutting JCU's lead to two goals.

The Polar Bears carried their momentum from the end of the first quarter into the second quarter, scoring 1:31 into the match, making the score 4-3. And then came the Blue Streaks.

Sophomore Kevin Hack responded to ONU's goal 1:03 later with his second score of the night, igniting a six goal run all the way up until two minutes remaining in the second quarter. During the scoring run, Blake added two goals and freshman Ian Flynn concluded the scoring streak with his second goal of the game.

Much like the first quarter, ONU scored late in the second half to cut the JCU lead to six scores heading into the break.

Following a 20-minute delay for an issue on the game clock, play resumed for the second half.

There was no delay for the Polar Bears to score a goal, as they netted the first mark of the third quarter 1:09 into competition. Unfortunately for ONU, that would be its final goal of the third quarter.

The Blue Streaks went on a seven goal run over the final 10 minutes of the third stanza, with scoring contributions from Blake (3), junior Cam Gerard (2), Hack (2), and junior Colin Corcoran (1). Gerard second's goal came with 0.6 seconds remaining on the scoreboard, providing the Blue and Gold with a 17-5 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Despite the Blue Streaks seven goal scoring run to end the third quarter, JCU could not freeze the Polar Bear offense. After nearly seven minutes of scoreless play, ONU shelled off three goals in 2:21, cutting the JCU lead to nine goals.

Even though the Blue and Gold could not freeze the Ohio Northern offense, they froze the ONU defense. Freshman Evan Schneeberger ended the Polar Bears three-goal scoring run with his third goal of the season, giving JCU the 18-8 lead.

Ohio Northern scored the final two goals of the game but the Blue Streaks walk away with the 18-10 win.

John Carroll improves to 10-6 overall on the season and 6-3 in the OAC with the win.

The Blue Streaks round one opponent is yet to be determined, but it will be a road game on Wednesday, May 1.