McLean County Times

The Illinois Wesleyan University men's lacrosse team secured a victory over Centre College with a 17-10 win at the Music City Classic in Nashville, Tennessee. This marks their second win of the opening weekend, bringing their season record to 2-0 while Centre falls to 1-2.

Gage Black from Peoria led the team with eight points, scoring six goals and providing two assists. Ike Eastburn and Bob Boone also contributed significantly, each scoring four goals. Timothy McHugh recorded a career-high five assists and scored two goals.

Defensively, Nick Schroeder and Karsten Nordlie each collected seven ground balls, with Nordlie achieving a career-high in both ground balls and caused turnovers. Schroeder excelled in faceoffs, winning 14 out of 19 attempts, while Michael Rocco won nine out of 11. Colin Tervo played the entire game as goalkeeper for Illinois Wesleyan, making 14 saves.

Illinois Wesleyan dominated statistically, leading in shots (58-31), ground ball scoops (36-14), and faceoff wins (24-6). Both teams recorded 14 saves.

Centre started strong with an early goal but Illinois Wesleyan quickly equalized. The Titans took control after a momentum-shifting double penalty against Centre allowed Black to score a man-up goal. Boone's shot from McHugh tied the game at 3-3, sparking a six-goal run for IWU.

A timeout called by Centre did little to halt IWU's momentum as Black scored again for a lead they maintained into halftime at 8-3. The second half saw continued success for IWU with Eastburn extending the lead early on. Despite three consecutive goals by Centre in the fourth quarter, Illinois Wesleyan's offense proved too strong.

Black set up McHugh for another goal before Boone further extended their lead. McHugh assisted Eastburn once more for IWU's final goal of the night. Centre managed two more goals but could not overcome Illinois Wesleyan's lead.

Illinois Wesleyan will continue their road games against Aurora University on February 22nd at Montgomery, Illinois.