DUBUQUE, Iowa - After having won their first ever conference regular season championship last Saturday night, the University of Dubuque men's lacrosse team took Oyen Field Wednesday night as the #1 seed in the Midwest Lacrosse Conference (MLC) tournament. They would play host to the #4 seed University of Northwestern (MN) Eagles in which the Spartans defeated in the regular season by a score of 12-4 on the road. After a late surge by the Spartans in the first half and stellar defensive play in the second half, the Spartans were able to come away with a 6-4 victory to move on to Saturday's MLC tournament championship game. Freshman, Ryan Doyle made history tonight as well as he managed to break the single season record for caused turnovers with 94.

The Eagles would start with the early momentum as they scored two minutes into the game to take an early one score lead. Both teams would go back and forth, but the Eagles had the slight edge after scoring with one second left before the end of the first to lead 3-2. Both teams would then add a goal halfway through the second quarter as the Eagles continued to lead 4-3. The Spartans would then score three unanswered goals the final 7:20 of the second to lead 6-4 at the break. The second half would be a defensively battle as both goalies allowed zero goals and the Spartans would come away with the close 6-4 win. 

Aidan Culligan had four points against the Eagles as he scored a game-high three goals and added an assist. Giovanni Silva had a goal and two assists. Ryan Gartner continues his dominant stretch of games as he saved 10 shots and allowed only four goals in the semi-final victory. The Spartans shot 22-36 (.611) on goal and had 26-28 (.929) successful clears. As a team, the Spartans caused 21 turnovers and collected 38 ground balls. 

With six caused turnovers tonight, defenseman, Ryan Doyle broke the NCAA Division III men's lacrosse record for caused turnovers in a single season with 94 so far this season. The previous record was broken back in 2019 with 93 caused turnovers. Head coach, Kasey Burst had nothing but high praise for the freshman, "I'm very proud of Ryan and all he has accomplished this season. He is a very special player, and for him to see this type of success in only his first year, is a testament to his work ethic on and off the field." 

UP NEXT
The Spartans will compete in their first ever conference tournament championship game on Saturday, May 7 against the Lake Forest College Foresters with start time TBD. The Spartans previously beat the Foresters 16-4 in their regular season match-up.