(Savannah, GA) Concordia Men's Lacrosse booked a ticket to the NAIA Invitational for the second straight season, earning an at-large bid and the seventh seed in the tournament. On Wednesday evening they squared off against second seeded Keiser for a rematch of their meeting in early March. The Cardinals took an early lead, but Keiser responded at the end of the first quarter and never relinquished their advantage, as the Seahawks won 19-14 to advance to the semifinals.
Ivan Progar paced the Cardinals' attack with six goals on the day, while Hunter McCarty, Sam Saje, and Travis Wright each scored a pair. Sam Bowling saved 11 shots throughout the game while Noah Sorenson had a team-high three caused turnovers.
Both teams traded defensive stops to start and after another Cardinal stop Concordia opened up the scoring with goals from Ivan Progar and Andrew Simmons. Travis Wright whipped one in from distance to make it 3-0 before Keiser answered with their first. Ivan Progar put in his second of the day, but the Seahawks responded with five straight to claim their first lead. Progar scored another to give himself a hattrick and make it a one score advantage for Keiser after one quarter of play.
Keiser started the second quarter strong with five goals in the opening three minutes to increase their lead to six. The Cardinals began to cut into that lead starting with a Sam Saje goal which he scored after securing the faceoff. Ivan Progar netted his fourth on a man-up opportunity which was followed by a Hunter McCarty sweeping shot coming from behind the net. Keiser snuck in a goal of their own in the final minute of the half to make it a four-goal deficit for the Cardinals.
The Seahawks put in a pair of fastbreak goals to kickoff the second half to go up six. The teams then traded two goals each with Ivan Progar and Spencer Guppy scoring Concordia's, keeping the Seahawk lead at six still.
Action slowed at the start of the fourth quarter, until Keiser found two more goals. Hunter McCarty answered with his own goal, which the Seahawks matched shortly after. Sam Saje scored another goal off of a faceoff to start a three-goal run for the Cardinals. Travis Wright and Ivan Progar followed suit with their sixth and second goals respectively. That brought the lead down to five, but Keiser was able to slow down the remaining possessions and come away with the 19-4 win.
