RIVER FOREST, Ill. – The Carroll University men's lacrosse team held on in the second half as they went on to beat Concordia Chicago on Wednesday afternoon by a score of 8-6. This marks the first win for the Pioneers since 2020, and Head Coach Jacob Acevedo earned his first career victory as a head coach. Danny McGee led the team with four goals, while Zach Mehrtns earned four points for his two goals and two assists. Spencer Lautner and McGee earned seven ground balls while Joe Harrison won 12-17 faceoffs.
 
The Pioneers (1-4) recorded 61 shots against the Cougars, the most in a game in program history. Carroll picked up 34 ground balls and was successful on 12 of 16 clear attempts. Carroll's nine turnovers in the fourth quarter were almost costly, but nine turnovers from the Cougars helped keep the game in Carroll's control. Cole Faust tallied nine saves in goal over the entire duration of the contest, picking up the first win of his career as well.
 
Concordia struck first In the game after a successful clear attempt a minute and thirty seconds into the contest. After a penalty, the Cougars scored a man-up goal soon after. Mehrtens and McGree scored the next two goals of the game to tie the ball game up. Both teams went into the second quarter knotted at two apiece. Mehrtens and McGee scored twice more in the first five minutes of the second period to take a two-goal advantage. Sam Kopshinsky followed that up with a man-down goal after Miles Dodge was sent to the penalty box. The Cougars picked up one more goal just before halftime, but Carroll had the 5-2 advantage at the break.
 
Josh Kovach and Joe Harrison combined for a goal at the 13:30 mark of the third quarter, and McGee scored his third goal of the game with 7:03 left in the period to take a 7-3 lead. CUC rattled off three quick goals to bring the Carroll lead down to just one going into the fourth quarter. Quickly into the period, McGee scored again assisted by Mehrtens and Carroll held an 8-6 advantage. The Pioneers played keep away the remainder of the game, recording just three more shots in the period trying to milk out the clock leading to their first win of the season.
 
The Pios' next game this week is a CCIW matchup at Elmhurst on Saturday, April 2 at 1 PM.