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John Carroll University Athletics

home of the Blue Streaks
2024 OAC Men's Lacrosse Championship
Jose Figueroa
The Blue Streaks dominated down the stretch to win the program's first title in front of a home crowd since 2019. 
9
Baldwin Wallace BW-M 10-7
17
Winner John Carroll JCUM 11-4
Baldwin Wallace BW-M
10-7
9
Final
17
John Carroll JCUM
11-4
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Baldwin Wallace BW-M 3 3 1 2 9
John Carroll JCUM 4 2 4 7 17

Next Game:

at University of Scranton

5/8/2024 | 4:00 PM

Next Game

Full Schedule
May. 08 (Wed) / 4:00 PM
at University of Scranton
History

Game Recap: Men's Lacrosse | | Joe Ginley '16, SID

EIGHT STRAIGHT: Men's Lacrosse Dominates BW at Home for 8th OAC Crown

UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS – The dynasty continues.

The John Carroll Men's Lacrosse machine nearly grinded to a halt early in the season. But the Blue Streaks gained steam down the stretch and became unstoppable.

For a remarkable eighth consecutive time, the Blue Streaks are Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament Champions after a dominant performance down the stretch in a 17-9 victory over crosstown Baldwin Wallace University at Don Shula Stadium. 

Especially satisfying was the chance to win in front of the John Carroll faithful, marking the program's first title earned on home turf since 2019. 

"Every year is different, so it feels just as good," said Head Coach Joe Rautenstrauch, the architect of the powerhouse. "I'm really proud of this group. We started 1-4, but we're a completely different team now. We were young, we grew, but we took our lumps. I'm really proud." 

The Blue Streaks hosted an absolute masterclass in the second half, outscoring the visitors, 11-3. Save after save by goalie Jon Gaglio took the fight out of the Yellow Jackets, while the JCU attack poured it on.

"Winning doesn't get old," said Gaglio. "The grind and everything we worked for is amazing. This is awesome, so much excitement. We had a bit of a bumpy road and almost shot ourselves in the foot in the regular season, but we got the help and got home field advantage, which was big. We're proud of this championship." 

Baldwin Wallace got the scoring started just over a minute into the contest, but the Blue Streaks provided a response about 90 seconds later. The graduate student Morgan Morrell got going early with JCU's first goal of the day.

And the goals kept coming. 

Josh Lombardo sent home a Colin Morrissey pass for the early lead. Larry Voss then hit a turnaround beauty from a tough angle for a fantastic goal. Another goal followed later at the 11-minute mark, with Braden Zarek getting his first championship goal. Trailing early, 4-1, the Yellow Jackets burned a timeout. 

The scoring settled after the break, as BW got back on the board with 5:50 left on a transition tally. The Yellow Jackets notched another later in the quarter, setting the margin at one after the first quarter. 

Josh Lombardo began the scoring in the second with an unassisted ripper. Baldwin Wallace got right back in it with a pair of goals to tie it at five, where the score stood for about four minutes until Morrissey ripped a low to high lefty shot home. In the seesaw affair, BW responded to get it back to even at six-all, where the score stood at halftime. 

Morrell opened the scoring at the 9:26 mark of the third a bit after JCU killed off the first penalty of the day. About a minute later, Lombardo scored a pretty one, falling down in the middle as he was shooting. Zarek continued the momentum with a great goal.

Baldwin Wallace ended the avalanche with a goal at 5:58, but it was only an intermission in the John Carroll dominance. Keane closed out the scoring in the third with a goal off a quick groundball and pass by Zarek, setting the score at 10-7 JCU entering the fourth.

Slowly but surely, the Blue Streaks worked to put the game out of hand. Alexander Sykas dashed down a lane down the middle and found an open Keane for a 4-goal lead, JCU's largest to that point. Then at the end of a lengthy JCU possession, Morrell took a pass from X, dodged Jackets, and then rocketed one home for his 30th goal of the season. The veteran then set up a Lombardo tally on JCU's next time down. 

With 5:25 left in the game, the Yellow Jackets ended the 4-goal run, but no rally appeared. Lombardo, Keane, and Morrell added markers down the stretch to keep it far out of reach. 

And following a pair of Baldwin Wallace penalties with 10 seconds left, Vinny Fiorella provided the exclamation mark with a final goal off a Lombardo helper to finish off JCU's fourth straight victory over BW in the tournament championship. 

Lombardo topped the team with 7 points (5 goals, 2 assists). Morrell's effort was exactly what you'd expect of a star vet with 5 points. Keane's hat trick is also not to be ignored. 

Levi Kinnan's work on faceoffs (15-of-29) deserves kudos, as does Nicholas Yemma's work scooping up 6 groundballs, many on draws. Alexander Sykas topped the team with 3 caused turnovers and added 4 GBs. 

Between the pipes, Gaglio was magnificent. The Webster, New York native nabbed 13 saves, his third straight double-digit save effort. 

For the team's graduate students – Gaglio, Fiorella, and Morrell – the win is extra sweet. Safe to say the fifth year was worth it.

"I took a fifth year because I love my teammates," said Gaglio. "It's the best part of winning, being around these guys. But we're not done." 

The triumph today is particularly satisfying knowing what the Blue Streaks have been through this year. JCU started the season 1-4 with some difficult losses. But the team kept the faith and has since won 10 in a row.

"Things were dark in late March, but these guys believed," said Rautenstrauch. "We got great leaders, our fifth-years, and top to bottom, they wanted it. When we were at 1-4, they had a team meeting, and said what are you willing to do so that we don't break the streak. They put in the work."

John Carroll will await the reveal of the NCAA Division III Tournament bracket on Sunday night at 9 pm on NCAA.com. 
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Players Mentioned

Vinny Fiorella

#18 Vinny Fiorella

M
6' 2"
Senior
Jon Gaglio

#77 Jon Gaglio

G
5' 7"
Senior
Morgan Morrell

#5 Morgan Morrell

M/A
5' 10"
Senior
Alexander Sykas

#26 Alexander Sykas

LSM
5' 10"
Junior
Nicholas Yemma

#19 Nicholas Yemma

M
5' 8"
First Year
Josh Lombardo

#12 Josh Lombardo

M
5' 10"
First Year
Colin Morrissey

#13 Colin Morrissey

A
5' 9"
First Year
Levi Kinnan

#6 Levi Kinnan

5' 9"
First Year
Larry Voss

#12 Larry Voss

M
6' 0"
First Year
Braden Zarek

#23 Braden Zarek

M
5' 10"
First Year

Players Mentioned

Vinny Fiorella

#18 Vinny Fiorella

6' 2"
Senior
M
Jon Gaglio

#77 Jon Gaglio

5' 7"
Senior
G
Morgan Morrell

#5 Morgan Morrell

5' 10"
Senior
M/A
Alexander Sykas

#26 Alexander Sykas

5' 10"
Junior
LSM
Nicholas Yemma

#19 Nicholas Yemma

5' 8"
First Year
M
Josh Lombardo

#12 Josh Lombardo

5' 10"
First Year
M
Colin Morrissey

#13 Colin Morrissey

5' 9"
First Year
A
Levi Kinnan

#6 Levi Kinnan

5' 9"
First Year
Larry Voss

#12 Larry Voss

6' 0"
First Year
M
Braden Zarek

#23 Braden Zarek

5' 10"
First Year
M

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