ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – The Lewis University men's lacrosse team made history by winning the 2024 Great Lakes Valley Conference Men's Lacrosse Tournament Championship for the first time in program history as the Flyers defeated Maryville 11-10 Saturday (May 4) at Lewis Stadium.
TEAM RECORDS
No. 1 seed #18 Lewis 13-4 | No. 2 seed #12 Maryville 13-4
LEWIS LEADERS
Goals: Evan Clement (San Diego, California/Mt. Carmel HS / CCBC-Essex) (3)
Assists: Baden Boyenko (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada/St. Joseph HS / Genesee Community College) (2),
Nolan Dalep (Victoria, British Columbia, Canada/Claremont Secondary School) (2)
Ground Balls: Domenic Tarello (Libertyville, Illinois/Libertyville HS) (8)
Saves: Riah Rathe (Chanhassen, Minnesota/Chanhassen HS) (16)
GAME SUMMARY
FIRST QUARTER: Lewis 3, Maryville 2
Maryville got on the board first in the opening minute of the contest as Colin Tobias found the back of the net to make it 1-0 Saints. 52 seconds later,
Paul Ruskoski (Tulsa, Oklahoma/Bishop Kelley HS) responded with his 21
st goal of the season off the pass from
Malikye Good (Windsor, Ontario, Canada/St. Thomas of Villanova Catholic HS).
The Saints regained the lead at the 9:47 mark in the first period off the goal from Zach Baker to make it 2-1.
Andrew Schermerhorn (Appleton, Wisconsin/St. Francis Xavier HS / Canisius College) found the back of the net after receiving the ball from Clement which tied it at 2-2.
Lewis regained the lead with 3:20 to play in the first period after
Kevin Blaz (McHenry, Illinois/Marian Central Catholic HS) took it himself for the score to make it 3-2. Rathe was able to record seven saves in the period to keep it 3-2 in favor of the Flyers.
SECOND QUARTER: Maryville 4, Lewis 0
The Flyers were unable to score in the second quarter as Maryville scored all four goals in the period. The Saints had tallies at 10:18 mark, 6:20, 5:37 and 2:22 to give Maryville a 6-3 at the break.
Rathe recorded four saves during the second. Lewis was able to put up four shots on goal and nine total but none found the back of the net.
THIRD QUARTER: Lewis 6, Maryville 2
Maryville opened the second half with a goal three minutes in by Ben Foster, which gave the Saints a 7-3 advantage at the 12:02 mark in the third. Boyenko was able to respond and end the Maryville 5-0 run by the Saints to make it 7-4.
Dominic Bravata (Portage, Michigan/Portage Northern HS) recorded another goal for Lewis 29 seconds later which made it 7-5 in favor of the Saints. One minute later, Boyenko found the open man again, this time finding GLVC Offensive Player of the Year Clement to make it 7-6 at the 7:27 mark in the third.
Dalep was able to find
Kevin Blaz (McHenry, Illinois/Marian Central Catholic HS) with 5:55 left in the third to tie the game at 7-7 which was the first tie since 10:18 in the second. The Saints responded and regained the lead after Foster found the back of the net with 4:17 remaining.
Nate McLean (Crystal Lake, Illinois/Crystal Lake Central HS) quickly got the ball from the face-off then fired it into Clement for the score 19 seconds later to tie it at 8-8. In the closing seconds of the third, Dalep was able to find Clement for the goal to keep him a hat-trick and give Lewis a 9-8 lead with 18 seconds to play in the third to give Lewis its first lead since 3:20 in the first.
FOURTH QUARTER: Lewis 2, Maryville 2
Boyenko was able to find Dalep this time with 11:09 to play in the contest as the graduate student scored his 18
th goal of the season to give Lewis a 10-8 lead, its biggest of the game. Maryville would not give in as the Saints bounced back with goals at 9:50 mark and 6:20 to tie it at 10-10.
Bravata was able to find the open man in Dalep again as he fired home his second goal of the match which ended up as the game-winning goal with 4:34 remaining in the contest. Lewis was able to hang on and secure the championship after GLVC Goalkeeper of the Year Rathe recorded three clutch saves in the final four minutes including one in the closing seconds to win it.
FINAL SCORE: Lewis 11, Maryville 10
UP NEXT
Lewis will await its NCAA II Tournament Fate during the NCAA II Men's Lacrosse Tournament Selection Show which is slated for Sunday, May 5 at 6:30 p.m. CT. It will be streamed on
www.ncaa.com.
