MILWAUKEE, Wis. – It was a record-breaking night on top of the parking garage at MSOE. The Concordia Wisconsin men's lacrosse team picked up its program best 16th victory on Wednesday with a 13-7 victory over the Raiders. The Falcons close the regular season on a 10-game winning streak and close the book on the regular season at 16-1 and finish in second place in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference at 10-1.
The first quarter was a defensive showcase between two of the strongest defenses in the conference.
Junior Bryce Petersen (Waukesha, Wis.) started the scoring on Wednesday night in Milwaukee.
MSOE marched down the field and tied the game a minute later and that score held for the rest of the first quarter.
The second quarter belonged to the Birds. Concordia held a 5-1 scoring margin in the second frame.
CUW landed goals from freshman Blane Vrana (Monument, Colo.), senior Preston Meier (Owatonna, Minn.), senior Frank Trewyn (Mukwonago, Wis.) and freshman Brayden Wilson (Pueblo West, Colo.( in the second quarter.
Blane Vrana found the back of the net again to start the third quarter and then sophomore Bryce Marval (Glenview, Ill.) joined the scoring off a sophomore Jackson Knutson (Roseville, Minn.) assist.
MSOE cut the Concordia lead to 8-3, but the third quarter scoring ended with a Blane Vrana goal from freshman Kaleb Weikel (Andover, Minn.).
CUW opened the fourth quarter with goals from Kaleb Weikel and junior Tyler Husby (Eagan, Minn.).
The Raiders rumbled to a 4-1 rally, with a goal from Kaleb Weikel sandwiched in to cut the CUW lead to 12-7 with 2:24 left but Blake Vrana turned off the lights with his fifth goal off a pass from Brayden Wilson.
MSOE held a 43-39 advantage in shots, but Concordia edged MSOE with a22-21 advantage of shots on goal.
Junior Ben Birch (Grafton, Wis.) and Preston Meier led the flock with four ground balls each. Senior Oliver Roa (Dunlap, Ill.) had two caused turnovers for Concordia in the victory.
Sophomore Nolan O'Malley was once again strong in the cage with 14 saves on the evening.
With the victory, the Falcons lock up the second seed and will host Lawrence on Saturday afternoon.
