Grove City GRO 2-4

John Carroll JCUM 3-1

Grove City GRO

2-4

Final

Mar. 15, 2023

John Carroll JCUM

3-1

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	3	4	F
Grove City GRO	3	3	2	4	12
John Carroll JCUM	2	3	8	2	15

Summary
Box Score

Aislyn McQueen

The Blue Streaks fired up a 7-0 run to beat the Wolverines.

Game Recap: Men's Lacrosse | 3/15/2023 9:25:00 PM | Maddie Maselko, Senior Staff Writer

Men's Lacrosse Roars Out of the Locker Room at Half, Beating Grove City in Home Opener

UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS -- After a successful spring break trip to Colorado, the John Carroll Men's Lacrosse team was ready to open their regular season at home against Grove City of the President's Athletics Conference.

The Blue Streaks played a strong game on both sides of the ball, beating the Wolverines 15-12.

"It was a lot of team ball," Morgan Morrell said. "It was a lot of communication; we made sure everyone knew what we were doing. We were playing our game. We had a game plan to make the easy looks and try, and do what we've been practicing. The defense helped us out a lot in transition in between the lines, which was a huge thing for us. I think we won that battle to get the best possessions on offense."

The Blue Streaks advance to 3-1 on the season following the home-opening win.

John Carroll opened the game with the ball but was unable to find the back of the net. After a successful clear attempt for the Wolverines, they were able to get the ball past Jon Gaglio and score with 13:19 left in the first quarter.

The Wolverines did not ease up on the Blue & Gold, scoring another goal with 9:06 left to take a 2-0 lead. The Blue Streaks came out strong on offense in the first quarter but struggled to find the net. After a few key saves by Gaglio, Josh Lombardo found the back of the Wolverine's net with 4:58 left in the first quarter to cut the Grove City lead in half to 2-1.

The Wolverines had an answer to the Blue Streaks' goal, though, tallying another goal to cushion their lead back to two goals.

John Carroll continued to chip away at the Wolverines in the first quarter, with Ian Venard, Morgan Morrell, and Matt Berdysiak taking shots before Tanner Gill-Snow successfully found the net to make the score 3-2 to close the first quarter.

Both teams battled to find the net in the second quarter, but the Wolverines got another past JCU with 12:02 left in the half. Nicholas Yemma won the faceoff right after the Grove City goal, allowing freshman Colin Morrissey to find the net.

Morrissey was just heating up. A minute and a half later, he scored again with an assist by Matt Berdysiak to tie the game at four apiece with 10:08 left in the half.

A slashing penalty by the Wolverines gave the Blue Streaks a man-up advantage leading to another Blue Streak goal – this one by Morrell with another assist by Berdysiak to give John Carroll its first lead of the game.

The Wolverine offense did not take this lightly, responding with another goal of their own to tie the game with 7:11 left in the first half. Their offense was unrelenting, tallying another goal with 4:44 left in the quarter to take back the lead, now 6-5.

The Blue Streaks and Wolverines battled to score one more before the buzzer sounded in the first half, but neither team found the net to end the first half, so the Wolverines led 6-5 at half.

John Carroll opened the scoring of the second half, with Lombardo scoring unassisted to tie up the game again. A costly turnover gave the Wolverines another scoring opportunity, taking back their lead with 9:37 left in the third quarter.

This lead did not last long for Grove City, with Berdysiak scoring to tie the game again 37 seconds later. Morrissey followed up on the Blue Streaks' next possession with another goal of his own, his third of the night, to make the score 8-7 and reclaim the lead.

With another man-up opportunity, the Blue Streaks' Ian Venard extended the lead to 9-7 with 5:22 left in the quarter.

The John Carroll offense continued to take off late in the third quarter. After a turnover by the Wolverines at midfield, Michael Bevington found the back of the net with an assist by Cam Cecere. Brendan Hein extended the lead shortly after to make the score 11-7.

With just over two minutes left in the quarter, Vinny Fiorella scored for the first time this season. Almost a minute later, Morrissey took advantage of another man-up situation to extend the JCU lead to 13-7. The Blue and Gold went unanswered for seven goals in total until the Wolverines knocked a goal in with only eight seconds left in the third quarter, making the score 13-8.

"At halftime, we had a spirited conversation in the locker room, and the guys responded," said Head Coach Joe Rautenstrauch. "We played great defense to create chances and openings for our offense. I'm happy with the way we answered in the third quarter. But we still have plenty of work to do."

The Blue Streak defense held strong early in the final quarter, preventing the Wolverines from scoring until 8:28 in the fourth quarter. Morrell responded with another of his own to make the score 14-9.

The Wolverines began to heat up again late in the fourth quarter, scoring two unanswered goals leaving 5:52 on the clock and a score of 14-11.

Both teams' defenses held strong at the end of the quarter, but the Wolverines were once again able to find the back of the net to cut the John Carroll lead. Eight seconds later, Berdysiak scored with an assist from Hein to put the Blue Streaks ahead at 15-12 with 2:41 left in the game.

Neither team could tally another goal before the clock hit zero, giving John Carroll the win with a final score of 15-12.

"It was physical… it's a physical game," Morrell said. "Everyone came out hungry for some contact, and I think that's a big thing for us. We feed off of that. You take a good hit or you see someone give a good hit… our bench gets fired up, and it makes you play harder."

Freshman star Colin Morrissey led the Blue Streaks in goals with four. Matt Berdysiak led the team with four assists. Morgan Morrell was another key piece of the offense with eight shots and five on goal. Jon Gaglio had nine saves on the night.

The Blue Streaks will now head to Delaware, Ohio to face off against Ohio Wesleyan University on Saturday, March 18 at 1 pm.

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Scoring Summary
Scoring Play	Home Team Score
1st Period		GRO	JCUM
13:19	GRO - Kobi Bui Assisted by Brett Gladstone	1	0
09:06	GRO - Alec Jones	2	0
04:58	JCUM - Josh Lombardo	2	1
03:49	GRO - Matt Blythe Assisted by Kobi Bui	3	1
02:02	JCUM - Tanner Gill-Snow Assisted by Matt Berdysiak	3	2
2nd Period		GRO	JCUM
12:02	GRO - Kobi Bui Assisted by Zachary Hougan	4	2
11:37	JCUM - Colin Morrissey	4	3
10:08	JCUM - Colin Morrissey Assisted by Matt Berdysiak	4	4
09:45	JCUM - Morgan Morrell Assisted by Matt Berdysiak	4	5
07:11	GRO - Kobi Bui Assisted by Zachary Hougan	5	5
04:44	GRO - Brett Gladstone	6	5
3rd Period		GRO	JCUM
12:56	JCUM - Josh Lombardo	6	6
09:37	GRO - Kobi Bui Assisted by Zachary Hougan	7	6
09:00	JCUM - Matt Berdysiak Assisted by Cam Cecere	7	7
07:40	JCUM - Colin Morrissey	7	8
05:22	JCUM - Ian Venard Assisted by Matt Berdysiak	7	9
03:26	JCUM - Michael Bevington Assisted by Cam Cecere	7	10
02:54	JCUM - Brendan Hein	7	11
02:07	JCUM - Vinny Fiorella Assisted by Tanner Gill-Snow	7	12
01:11	JCUM - Colin Morrissey Assisted by Morgan Morrell	7	13
00:08	GRO - Matt Blythe Assisted by Brett Gladstone	8	13
4th Period		GRO	JCUM
08:28	GRO - Brett Gladstone	9	13
07:46	JCUM - Morgan Morrell Assisted by Matt Russo	9	14
06:27	GRO - Kobi Bui Assisted by Zachary Hougan	10	14
05:52	GRO - Luke Jayne	11	14
02:49	GRO - Brett Gladstone	12	14
02:41	JCUM - Matt Berdysiak Assisted by Brendan Hein	12	15