AURORA, Ill. – There isn't one reason why Concordia University Wisconsin should hang its head or be disappointed, despite falling 14-11 at Aurora University in the Midwest Lacrosse Conference Tournament Championship game on Saturday afternoon at Vago Field.
The Falcons showed resiliency throughout the contest, but couldn't gain enough momentum to take down the top-seeded Spartans. They fell behind 4-0 less than six minutes into the game before responding with three unanswered goals to end the opening quarter. Each team traded goals in the second and fourth quarters, but the difference was Aurora's 4-2 scoring edge in the third period.
CUW (10-7) was outshot 46-28 and its defense just couldn't find a way to force many Aurora mistakes, as the hosts committed just nine turnovers on the day. The Falcons also entered the game as the best faceoff team in the MLC, but won just 11-of-27 attempts. In addition, an area they excel at is man-up offense, leading the nation at 57.1 percent, and were given just two opportunities and failed to convert those into goals.
Junior Marino Best (Naniamo, British Colubmia) led the offensive attack for the Falcons with four goals, while junior Mark Wilson (Calgary, Alberta) had a career-high-tying two goals and junior Matt Garvey (Winnipeg, Manitoba) scored twice. Senior Derek Brueske (Hopkins, Minn.) assisted on a pair of goals in his career finale. Junior Danny Bundra (Lake Zurich, Ill.) picked up six ground balls and won 11 faceoffs.
Junior Thomas Mueller (Prior Lake, Minn.) made 14 saves, which is tied for the ninth most in a game in program history. Senior Matt Ray (Andover, Minn.) caused two turnovers and 16 Falcons ended the game with at least one ground ball.
Jason Koziol and Max Obriecht each had a hat trick for the Spartans, who won their third-consecutive MLC Tournament title. Jordan Williams and JK Torres had two scores apiece, while Garret Rosiek added two assists. Obriecht won 12 faceoffs and picked up a game-high nine ground balls. Aurora caused nine turnovers in the game.
The Falcons finish the season with a 10-7 overall record and improved the program's all-time record to 50-31 in just five years of existence.
