The Illinois Wesleyan University men’s lacrosse team secured a 15-3 victory over Benedictine University on Thursday night at Tucci Stadium in Bloomington, Illinois. With this result, the Titans improved their season record to 3-2, while the Eagles experienced their first defeat and now stand at 3-1.
Junior Timothy McHugh led the Titans’ offense by contributing four assists and one goal for a total of five points. Senior Cole Kennedy and freshmen Holden Webster and Garrett Wills each added four points. Kennedy and Wills scored two goals with two assists apiece, while Webster matched sophomore Jeremy Langosch for the team lead with three goals; Webster also had an assist.
On defense, Illinois Wesleyan forced 22 turnovers. Freshman Tyce Baldwin caused five turnovers and collected five ground balls, tying senior Karsten Nordlie for the team high in that category. Senior Billy McHugh registered four caused turnovers along with three ground balls. Goalkeeping duties were shared between sophomore Jaymeson Zackery, who made three saves, and senior Sam Scott, who recorded four saves.
At faceoff, senior Michael Rocco won seven out of thirteen attempts and sophomore Matt Arnold succeeded in six of seven tries.
Illinois Wesleyan took control early by scoring the first three goals of the match. After Timothy McHugh assisted on Wills’ opening goal, Billy McHugh set up a man-up opportunity following an offsides penalty against Benedictine. McHugh then assisted Webster to extend the lead to 2-0 midway through the first quarter. Webster added another goal shortly after with help from Wills before Benedictine responded with their first score.
Leading 3-1 after one quarter, Illinois Wesleyan went on a six-goal run to increase its advantage to 9-1 in the second quarter. Scorers during this stretch included freshman Jake Guerard, Webster, Kennedy, junior Nate Pound, and Langosch (who netted two).
Benedictine managed two more goals before halftime but did not score again as Illinois Wesleyan posted six unanswered goals in the second half to secure a decisive win.
Illinois Wesleyan competes at the NCAA Division III level as part of the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (official website). The team plays home games at Tucci Stadium (official website) in Bloomington (official website).
Next on their schedule is an away game against Lake Forest College on Saturday at Farwell Field.
