MEQUON, Wis. - The Concordia Wisconsin men's lacrosse team ousted the Illinois Tech Scarlet Hawks, 19-8, on Wednesday night in the NACC Tournament Semifinals. The victory pushed the Falcons to their sixth conference final appearance overall and first since 2019. The win was secured by a dominant final quarter for Concordia, which saw it outscore the Scarlet Hawks 10-2.
The contest served as a revenge game for the Falcons, as Illinois Tech emerged victorious against Concordia in 2023's conference semifinal. The contest was marked by a three-goal Scarlet Hawks fourth quarter, but Concordia's dominant fourth in 2024 proved to flip the switch.
Illinois Tech took the first lead of the game in the opening minute of play, but the Falcons rattled off four consecutive goals to take a commanding hold on the contest. Junior Gio Nowotarski (Reading, Pa.) took responsibility for the equalizer, while senior Caleb Ruger (Grafton, Wis.) assembled off a pair of goals to mark multi-score performances in seven of his last eight outings.
Junior Max Esposito (Gaithersburg, Md.) and senior Parker Beaudry (Sherwood Park, Alta.) also found scores for the Falcons in the first quarter, which concluded with Concordia holding a 5-3 advantage.
After picking up a goal in the closing seconds of the first, the Scarlet Hawks picked up the opening tally of the second period of play, pulling within a single goal. The Falcons responded quickly, putting together a stretch of three unanswered goals to take an 8-4 advantage into halftime. Two of the scores were recorded by Beaudry and Esposito, while junior Michael Lange (Brookfield, Wis.) took responsibility for the run's median goal.
Out of the break, the third quarter of play proved to be a low-scoring battle, as the two squads combined for just three goals. Junior Hunter Swazey (Escondido, Calif.) was Concordia's lone scorer of the frame, picking up his fourth goal of the 2024 campaign. With a pair of Illinois Tech goals to conclude the period, the scoreboard read 9-6 in the Falcons' favor entering the game's final 15 minutes.
Concordia dominated the fourth quarter from the opening faceoff, which marked the team's 17th win on 18 faceoffs/. Freshman Tyler Husby (Eagan, Minn.), Nowotarski and Esposito kicked off the scoring stretch by pushing the team's advantage to six scores before Illinois Tech earned a tally back.
The Falcons responded with a deluge of goals to put the game out of reach, scoring seven times in 6:27. Esposito notched his fourth goal of the game to begin the run before Beaudry, senior Matthew Sierzega (Grayslake, Ill.) and freshman Jaxon Hill (Bismarck, N.D.) found the back of the net in the quarter. Concluding the stretch was a pair of goals from Beaudry, which bookended Nowotarski's third goal of the day. After a closing score from the Scarlet Hawks to conclude the game, the final score of the match was marked at 19-8 in Concordia's favor.
Freshman goaltender Travis Marquardt (Brookfield, Wis.) recorded ten saves in the contest.
Concordia finished the game with a 26-30 mark on faceoffs, largely in part due to Hill's 20/21 performance on draws.
The Falcons will seek their second conference tournament championship in program history in the conference title game on May 4 against the 13-5 Aurora Spartans.
