COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – After falling in their season-opener last Saturday, John Carroll Men's Lacrosse (2-1, 0-0 OAC) will return to University Heights with a Colorado sweep, winning both of their Spring Break games in the Centennial State.
The Blue Streaks defeated Rhodes (5-2, 0-0 SAA) by a final score of 12-7 on Sunday at Colorado College.
Rhodes started the scoring early, finding the back of net less than a minute into the first quarter. But the Blue Streaks answered just over three minutes later, as senior midfielder Matt Russo scored his second goal of the season to even things up at 1-1.
Then, with just under six minutes remaining in the period, the Lynx retook the lead with another goal. A quick response from freshman midfielder Josh Lombardo, however, tied the score again in less than a minute. This was Lombardo's first career collegiate goal. Another goal from senior midfielder Tanner Gill-Snow would give the Blue Streaks their first lead at 3-2 through one quarter.
An offensive surge in the second quarter allowed the Blue and Gold to seize control of the first half. John Carroll would score four more unanswered goals in the period, as sophomore midfielder Aidan Dugan and senior midfielder Morgan Morrell each netted a pair to put the Blue and Gold ahead 7-2 at halftime.
Morrell's second goal was his 100th career point, making him the 10th Blue Streak to reach the 100-point mark for his career. He would finish the afternoon with six points, four goals, and two assists, all of which were game-highs.
In the third, it didn't take long for John Carroll to pick up where they left off. Just seven seconds into the quarter, freshman midfielder Nicholas Yemma won the opening faceoff and dished the ball to Morrell, who whipped it in for his third goal of the game.
Then, after a Rhodes slashing penalty, freshman attacker Colin Morrissey took advantage of the man-up opportunity with the first of his two goals on the day. This gave the Blue Streaks seven unanswered goals, and a 9-2 lead just one minute into the third quarter.
But the Lynx would fight back with a pair of goals of their own. Morrissey would then find the back of the net again, the second time courtesy of a Morrell assist.
An unnecessary roughness penalty on sophomore long stick midfielder Alexander Sykas would leave the Blue and Gold with a man down, but that didn't stop senior defender Brendan Hein from netting his first goal of the season from a Morrissey assist.
After that, two unanswered Rhodes goals had John Carroll ahead 11-4 through three quarters of play.
In the final period, each team would tally one goal, with Morgan Morrell scoring his fourth of the afternoon with a feed from Colin Morrissey. The Blue Streaks defense would hold the Lynx scoreless for the final 10:15 of the game.
As a team, the Blue and Gold collected 25 ground balls to the Lynx's 18, converted an efficient 21 of 24 clears, and won 13 of the game's 24 faceoffs.
Up next, John Carroll will host Grove City College in their 2023 home-opener on Wednesday, March 15 at 7 PM at Don Shula Stadium. The contest will also be Men's Lacrosse's "Morgan's Message" Game.
