McLean County Times

The Illinois Wesleyan University men's lacrosse team secured a victory against Albion College with a final score of 15-8 on Saturday, March 23. This win brings the Titans' season record to 4-3, while Albion's falls to 1-8.

Senior Trystan Seeley led the Titans with four goals and five points. Junior Sam Weinberg achieved a hat trick, and freshman Timothy McHugh along with sophomore Kaden Gamelgaard each contributed two goals.

Senior Zo Lombardo excelled at faceoffs, winning 16 out of 26 and leading the team with 11 ground balls. McHugh added three ground balls, and six other Titans collected two each. Senior Michael Campagna recorded two caused turnovers for Illinois Wesleyan.

In goal, junior Colin Tervo played the entire game, making 17 saves and achieving a .680 save percentage, just one save short of his career best.

After a scoreless opening five minutes, Albion scored first. However, the Titans quickly responded with Seeley leveling the score at the 9:07 mark. Gamelgaard then gave Illinois Wesleyan a lead they would not relinquish.

Illinois Wesleyan scored twice more in the first period through Weinberg and Dretzka to lead 4-1. McHugh extended this lead early in the second period before Albion ended their scoring run. Seeley reignited the offense shortly after with a man-down goal.

Following this goal, Lombardo won another faceoff leading to an offensive timeout by Titan head coach Zach Iannucci. The strategy paid off as Seeley assisted senior Ike Eastburn for a man-up goal increasing their lead to 7-2.

The Titans entered halftime with a 9-5 advantage after additional goals from Weinberg and Gamelgaard. In the third period, senior Ethan Hart caused a turnover that led to sophomore Noah Dretzka assisting junior Nick Horrocks for another goal.

Illinois Wesleyan dominated the third period by scoring all four goals before concluding with a decisive victory over Albion.

The Titans will return home to face Southwestern University in a nonconference match on Thursday night, March 28, at Tucci Stadium starting at 7:30 p.m.