McLean County Times

In their College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin opener, the Illinois Wesleyan University men's lacrosse team showcased a strong performance against North Central College on Wednesday, April 9. The Titans won the match 19-10 at Tucci Stadium, pushing their season record to 9-2 overall and 1-0 in the conference. North Central fell to 6-3 overall and 0-1 in league play.

The game's 19 goals are the most Illinois Wesleyan has scored against North Central since their 2021 regular-season match, where they tallied 21 goals. Illinois Wesleyan dominated in several statistical categories, including shots (61-41), clears (19-15), ground balls (42-38), faceoff wins (17-14), and caused turnovers (17-9). North Central's goalie, Aidan Murphy, recorded 21 saves, surpassing the 14 combined saves from Illinois Wesleyan's goalkeepers.

Senior goalie Colin Tervo played 50:39 minutes, making 11 saves, while junior Sam Scott played 9:21 minutes with three saves. The Titan offense was led by Bob Boone and Ike Eastburn, both contributing five goals each. Boone's performance set a new career-high for goals. Timothy McHugh and Sam Weinberg each recorded four points from one goal and three assists. A total of 10 Titans scored during the conference opener.

On the defensive side, Nick Horrocks achieved career-highs with five caused turnovers and six ground balls. Nick Schroeder led in faceoffs, winning 14 out of 23, and collected 10 ground balls. He also contributed a goal and an assist.

The Titans started the game with four consecutive goals, with contributions from Gage Black, Billy McHugh, Schroeder, and Eastburn. North Central responded with their first goal, but the Titans maintained control with a 5-1 lead. Although North Central narrowed the gap to 5-3, Illinois Wesleyan responded with a three-goal run led by Boone.

A brief scoring lull ended with a North Central goal, but in the last moments of the half, Eastburn and Jake Kahoun scored, increasing Illinois Wesleyan's lead to 10-4 at halftime. Despite North Central's efforts in the third quarter, Illinois Wesleyan maintained their advantage.

Freshman Carlo Adams leveraged a man-up situation to extend Illinois Wesleyan's lead in the fourth quarter. The McHugh brothers combined for another goal, after which the teams traded a pair each. Eastburn contributed a man-up goal, and Boone added two more goals. Cole Kennedy assisted Eastburn's fifth goal, and Kahoun scored with 12 seconds remaining to conclude the game 19-10.

Illinois Wesleyan will host Carthage College at Tucci Stadium on Saturday, April 12, as they continue conference play.