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John Carroll University Athletics

home of the Blue Streaks
Karam vs. BW
Jess Maddux
Karam set the school record for caused turnovers tonight.
6
Baldwin Wallace BALDWIN 7-1
10
Winner John Carroll JCUM 7-1
Baldwin Wallace BALDWIN
7-1
6
Final
10
John Carroll JCUM
7-1
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Baldwin Wallace BALDWIN 3 1 0 2 6
John Carroll JCUM 3 4 2 1 10

Game Recap: Men's Lacrosse | | By: Kyle Kelly, Senior Staff Writer

Men's Lacrosse Gets Revenge in Regular Season Main Event

UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Ohio -- The battle of the top two teams in the Ohio Athletic Conference lived up to the billing.
 
After losing a one-goal game to crosstown-rival Baldwin Wallace 33 days ago, the John Carroll University Men's Lacrosse Team came prepared for revenge. The Blue Streaks did that more to take down the Yellow Jackets, 10-6, at Don Shula Stadium on April 7.
 
Every time the Yellow Jackets scored, the Blue Streaks had an answer. In the second quarter, JCU had plenty of them. It was a collection of Blue Streak upperclassmen that sparked a scoring run that left BW playing from behind for the rest of the night.
 
With the score tied at three, John Carroll's all-time assists leader Brendan Whitty led the scoring charge that began 1:07 into the second quarter to give the Blue and Gold their first lead of the game. Then, Kevin Hack scored his second of a game-high three goals less than two minutes later. Bennett Gorman netted his second of the game 5:47 into the period, which helped JCU pull ahead 6-3.
 
"In a hard-fought game like this, you need to rely on the guys who have played in those moments," Head Coach Joe Rautenstrauch said. "So, we go to those guys often because they are proven in those scenarios. Those guys were a big part in getting that win tonight."
 
Baldwin Wallace found the back of the net once more before the half but the NCAA's leading goal scorer, Skyler Blake, capped off the second quarter with his 52nd goal of the season to secure the 7-4 halftime lead.
 
In the third quarter, a tight defensive attack held the Yellow Jackets scoreless. Hack scored his third of the night with 6:16 remaining in the stanza; Hack has 12 hat tricks in his career and three so far this season. Just over a minute later, Cullen Zarek cracked the scoreboard for the third game in the row.
 
For the game, the JCU defensive effort won the ground ball battle, 45-29, and caused 19 turnovers. The Blue Streaks were 26-of-27 on clear attempts as well.
 
Clayton Karam caused four of those turnovers, which increased his career total to 129 and set a new all-time record in program history. Karam, along with Gorman and Ian Venard, led the team with five ground balls each. Sam Rodgers also caused four turnovers and gathered four ground balls.

"Coach Edwards had a fantastic game plan and everyone played very well. Sam Rodgers has been a shut down D-man all year, so it's very exciting, but a true team effort," Rautenstrauch said. "Conor Ryan, Charlie Shaver, Jake Caress, Clayton Karam, Brendan Hein, and our D-mid crew of Cam Cecere, Max Cook, Matt Russo, Alexander Sykas and our brick wall tandem of Jon Gaglio & Adam Grant."
 
Despite being down five goals, Baldwin Wallace showed no signs of slowing down. The Yellow Jackets stung twice within a matter of 37 seconds to trim JCU's lead to 9-6 with 13:08 still left to play. That's when the JCU defense shifted it into the next gear to close out the game and maintain the lead. Blake added his second goal of the night with 11:24 to play to finalize the score.
 
Matt Berdysiak led the team with a career-high two assists.
 
The Blue Streaks improve to 7-1 on the season and will take the field next on Saturday, April 10, at Don Shula Stadium against Wilmington at 1 p.m. JCU has won its last six games.
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