Most people will notice the 18 goals scored, but the John Carroll coaches had to really love the 30-plus scoreless minutes that helped deliver an 18-8 victory over Wittenberg Saturday at Don Shula Stadium.

Today marked John Carroll's fifth consecutive home opening win dating back to 2016.

Scoring at least five goals in each of the first three quarters, the Blue Streaks offense insured the continuation of the season-opening tradition. While the offense was scoring 13 unanswered goals over periods two and three, the JCU defense simply locked down the Tigers offense.

Kevin Hack started the game out by netting a goal exactly one minute into the match. Skyler Blake was second to score, and additional goals by Matt Berdysiak and Ian Flynn less than two minutes after would give the Blue Streaks a 4-1 advantage just five minutes into the first quarter.

Wittenberg answered with two more goals to trail John Carroll 5-3 at the end of the first quarter.

JCU held Wittenberg to two shots and zero goals in the second quarter and tallied six of their own. Blake accounted for three of the goals and Flynn earned himself two. This outstanding offensive play gave John Carroll a comfortable 11-3 lead at half.

In the third quarter, the Blue Streaks tallied seven more goals and once again held the Tigers to none. They also won five faceoffs compared to Wittenberg's two, this being the only quarter they had the advantage in this aspect.

The Tigers tallied five goals in the final quarter, including two in the final minute, against the JCU reserves.

The duo of JP Chanelly and Jon Gaglio proved strong in the net, racking up a combined nine saves. They were backed by a solid defense throughout the entire game.

Key players tonight include Blake with four goals, Whitty with three goals and three assists and Sam Rodgers with four ground balls.

John Carroll had a 36-23 advantage in ground balls.

Next up for John Carroll is a road trip to Bloomington, Illinois, to take on Illinois Wesleyan University on Tuesday, March 3rd at 6:00 p.m.