DUBUQUE, Iowa - The University of Dubuque men's lacrosse team hosted the Lake Forest College Foresters in a highly anticipated game on the confines of Oyen Field Saturday afternoon. This was the first time the Spartans and Foresters met since their last contest in the Midwest Lacrosse Conference (MLC) Championship game this past year in which the Spartans came out on top. Today's game did not disappoint as both teams battled back and forth as the Spartans were unable to overcome the Foresters, losing 16-14.

The First half was tail of two quarters. The first quarter belonged to the Foresters as they struck four goals within the first seven minutes of play. At the 5:04 mark the Spartans scored their first goal of the game as Aidan Culligan found the back of the net from an assist by Ben Farraday. The Foresters would go on to score two more goals taking a 6-1 lead heading into the second. 

During the second quarter momentum swung in favor of the Spartans as they outscored the Foresters five to three. Giovanni Silva started the comeback as he scored quickly which was followed by Culligan's second goal of the game cutting the deficit in half as the Spartans trailed 6-3. Tyler Johnson provided a spark for the Spartans as he scored two goals within a minute bringing the Spartans within two (7-5). To close out the half, the Foresters netted two more goals while the Spartans added one more, trailing 9-6 at the break.

The Spartans carried momentum into the second half, as they started off red hot scoring three goals within the first three minutes of the third quarter. Hephner, Johnson, and Silva each found the back of the net tying the game at 9-9. In the ensuing minutes, the Foresters and Spartans each traded goals knotting the game at 10-10 halfway through the third. With 6:18 left in the third, the Spartans captured their first lead of the game as Johnson netted his fourth goal of the game putting the Spartans up 11-10. Soon after, the Foresters scored three unanswered goals taking a 13-12 lead into the fourth. 

The Foresters grabbed the first two goals of the fourth quarter, before Silva recorded a hat trick scoring his third goal of the game with 5:24 left to play as the Spartans trailed 15-13. In the end, the Spartans just ran out of time as the Foresters maintained possession milking the clock until the final seconds. As a result the Spartans fell 16-14 to the Foresters.

Offensively, the Spartans had five players score multiple goals on the day. Johnson led the way as he found the back of net four times, while Silva had three goals. Sam Todd contributed three goals and three assists followed by Culligan and Hephner with two goals each. Ryan Doyle recorded 15 ground balls and forced two turnovers while faceoff specialist Nikolas Wortman had 10 ground balls.

The Spartans are now 5-7 overall and 1-1 in MLC play.

Up Next
The Spartans will play a week from today as the travel to Cornell College for a conference matchup. The game is scheduled to start at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 15.