MEQUON, Wis. – The Concordia Wisconsin men's lacrosse team is returning to the championship! The Falcons rumbled over the Raiders of the Milwaukee School of Engineering in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Men's Lacrosse Tournament Semifinals on Wednesday evening. The Falcons extended their longest winning streak in program history to 12 games with a 12-9 victory over MSOE.
Sophomore Jackson Knutson (Roseville, Minn.) but the Falcons on the scoreboard first with a goal with 12:51 left in the first quarter.
A minute later, MSOE tied the game at one.
The Falcons quickly responded with a goal from senior Preston Meier (Owatonna, Minn.) off a pass from junior Bryce Petersen (Waukesha, Wis.).
Bryce Petersen scored a goal of his own three minutes later off an assist from freshman Brayden Wilson (Pueblo West, Colo.).
Junior Tyler Husby (Eagan, Minn.) elevated the lead to 4-1, before Jackson Knutson scored 37 seconds later off a feed from Brayden Wilson.
Freshman Blane Vrana (Monument, Colo.) scored the final goal of the quarter off a pass from Jackson Knutson.
Preston Meier scored in the first minute of the second quarter to push the lead to 7-1.
The Raiders responded with four goals to close the second quarter to cut the Concordia lead to 7-4 at halftime.
The Birds bounced back to start the third quarter with back-to-back goals from Bryce Petersen off assists from junior Ben Birch (Grafton, Wis.) and Brayden Wilson.
The Red and White found the net once more before the Falcons struck back with boom-boom goals from Jackson Knutson and Preston Meier 23 seconds apart.
The Raiders refused to fade away and closed the quarter on a 2-0 run to come within 7-11.
Defense was the name of the game in the fourth quarter, but Jackson Knutson netted the final CUW goal with 2:24 left in the contest.
MSOE struck twice in the final two minutes, but it was not enough.
Sophomore Nolan O'Malley (Chicago, Ill.) was outstanding in the net once again and collected 18 saves in the victory.
Ben Birch was a menace for the Raiders and caused three turnovers in the victory and led the contest with eight ground balls.
The Falcons will return home for the NACC Tournament Finals. Lake Forest upset top-seeded Aurora in overtime on Wednesday evening.
