(Ann Arbor, MI) – Concordia men's lacrosse hosted Aquinas in the WHAC conference tournament after receiving a first-round bye. The Cardinals came in as the #2 seed while the Saints were the #3 seed. The contest was hard-fought throughout, but CUAA was able to pull away in the 4th quarter to secure a 17-13 win and a berth in the championship game of the WHAC tournament.
Devin Wolever led the team with 4 goals. Blake Blaisdell added 3 goals in the contest. Sam Saje led the team with 16 ground balls. Collin Webb, Evan Stuart, and Reggie Thompson each had a team-high 2 caused turnovers on defense.
Sam Bowling started in goal, making 15 saves. While the Cardinals generated many chances on offense, Aquinas scored three unanswered goals to begin the game. The Cardinals stormed back in the last 3 minutes when Devin Wolever broke the shutout with a goal. Reggie Thompson and Nick Stedtefeld added markers before the quarter ended, tying the game 3-3 after the 1st.
Blake Blaisdell opened scoring with a go-ahead goal just under a minute into the 2nd quarter. However, the Saints responded with a 3-0 run to retake the lead 6-4. Sam Saje countered by winning a faceoff and quickly running down the field to score an unassisted goal. Aquinas added 2 more goals before halftime and CUAA headed to the locker room trailing 8-5.
Aquinas struck first in the second half, but Blake Blaisdell countered less than a minute later after running in from the right side. The teams continued trading goals with Devin Wolever using a spin move to score and then completing his hat trick after running around the net. Wolever added a fourth goal on the power play and Ryan Iles also tallied before the quarter ended. CUAA trailed 11-10 after the 3rd.
Aquinas scored to open the 4th quarter, but Noah Sorenson tallied a pair of goals to tied the game 12-12 with 9:50 remaining. The Saints briefly retook the lead, but Evan Stuart found the back of the net to knot the score again. Nick Stedtefeld recorded the go-ahead goal with 7:10 remaining to put CUAA ahead 14-13.
The Cardinals continued to extend their lead when Jake Brigmon scored off a pass from behind the net by Miles Riddell. Blake Blaisdell finished his hat trick and Ryan Iles added his second tally as time wound down in the game. Concordia celebrate the 17-13 victory as the final buzzer sounded.
Concordia will now face the top seed in the tournament, Indiana Tech after they beat Lourdes, 17-10. The championship game will be played at Indiana Tech on Saturday, April 24th at 7pm.
