Contact: Matthew Eaker, Sports Information Graduate Assistant, mreaker@noctrl.edu
May 10, 2022 - After claiming their first College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) tournament championship on Sunday, the North Central College men’s lacrosse team looks to make some noise in their first trip to the NCAA Tournament as they travel to University Heights, Ohio for a first round matchup against the John Carroll University Blue Streaks.
The Cardinals had an interesting route to the NCAA Tournament as they knocked off Transylvania University 14-8 in their final game of the regular season to keep their CCIW playoff hopes alive. That win secured the No. 3 seed for the Cardinals, setting up a 2021 CCIW Semifinals rematch against the Carthage College Firebirds. The Cardinals took down the Firebirds 18-14 to send themselves to their second consecutive CCIW Championship against Transylvania. The Cardinals battled with the Pioneers and took home an 11-10 win to secure their first CCIW Championship and making their first trip to the big dance.
The Cardinals have scored 195 goals on 747 shots for a .261 shooting percentage. Tom Eberhardt is the Cardinals leader scorer with a career high 49 goals this season. Eberhardt is one of six Cardinals to have double digit goals. Jack Moran leads the team in points (61) with 32 goals and 29 assists on the season. Moran had a career high nine points in the CCIW semifinals against Carthage. Senior Scott Allgood has 24 goals, 21 assists and 45 points this season for the Cardinals, he was the fifth Cardinal in program history to reach 100 career points. Nick Rubino is the third in goals this season with 30, he also has eight assists on the season. The Cardinals offense was fifth in the CCIW in goals per game (12.19), assists per game (6.31) and points per game (18.50) during the regular season.
Trenton Herubin, Steven Dale, and Rutger Rawlings have been the leaders on the defense this season. Herubin has 25 caused turnovers this season while picking up 47 ground balls. Dale, a graduate student from Cromwell, Conn, has been the senior leader on a young Cardinal defense, causing 12 turnovers and picking up 28 ground balls. After Jake Allgood went down with an injury, the Cardinals looked to Freshman, Aidan Murphy to step up and lead them to their first conference championship in program history. Murphy, a freshman from Lindenhurst, Ill, has posted a 5-1 record this season tallying 61 saves and making ten key saves in the Cardinals 11-10 win over Transylvania in the CCIW Championship on Sunday.
The Blue Streaks won their sixth consecutive Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) championship with a 10-4 win over Baldwin Wallace University on Saturday, May 7. The Blues Streaks are 16-2 on the season and have outscored their opponents 296-123 on their way to their sixth appearance in the NCAA Tournament in just their ninth year as a program. The Blue Streaks have ten players with double digit goals including Junior Matt Berdysiak who leads the team with 68 goals and 77 points this season. Jon Gaglio has been the leader in net for the Blue Streaks, posting a 15-2 record while tallying 135 saves.
The Cardinals received five CCIW All-conference selections this season. Allgood, Herubin and Dylan Mlinarich were selected to the first team while Moran and Rubino were second team honorees. The NCAA announced their second Regional Rankings of the season and the Cardinals were ranked fifth in Region V, the organization announced Monday. Hope College claimed the No. 1 spot with a 12-4 record followed by conference rivals Illinois Wesleyan University and Transylvania University with Albion College in the fourth spot. The Cardinals moved up three spots to No. 5, jumping past Carthage College, Centre College and Birmingham-Southern University.
The First Round of the NCAA Tournament is set for Wednesday, May 11, the Cardinals and Blue Streaks will face-off at 4:00 pm (EST) inside of Don Shula Stadium on the campus of John Carroll University. The winner of this game will travel to Schenectady, New York to face No. 8 Union College on Saturday, May 14. Tickets for Wednesday’s game will only be sold online and will not be available for purchase at the gate. For the full NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Tournament bracket, click HERE.
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Credits:
Steve Woltman, Mark Black