Dakota picks up win vs. Ike-Utica
Aggressive Cougars squad seals MAC Red victory in Wednesday contest, 8-3
Dakota took an aggressive approach against the Eisenhower-Utica lacrosse squad on Wednesday and pushed its way to an 8-3 MAC Red division victory.
“We want to be gritty and get after people,” Dakota co-coach Mike Benevides said. “We’re not always going to have the best talent, but we can control our work ethic and our persistence. At the end of the day, we just want to be a team that won’t give up.”
The Cougars went on the attack early and jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the first period on goals by Jacob Bajis and Jake Brender, before Eisenhower-Utica
cut the lead in half on a goal by Luke Mastronardi, ending the opening quarter at 2-1.
Mastronardi tied the game 2-2 early in the second quarter, before Brender broke the tie with his second goal of the game. Dylan Giard made the score 4-2, before Eisenhower-Utica cut the gap to 4-3 at halftime on Mastronardi’s third goal of the game.
“I think for us we’re still trying to find out who we are,” Benevides said. “We had a lot of graduation last year on the offensive side, but on defense we have a lot of returning guys, so we feel comfortable with that.”
The second half was all Cougars as Giard scored his second goal of the game in the third quarter, before
Drew Collison, Alex Karr and Bajis added insurance goals in the fourth quarter.
Benevides commented on the play of Giard and Brender.
“Both are returning guys and high-caliber kids,” Benevides said. “Dylan is going to go to Aquinas College and Jake is a junior who has a good sense with the ball, but he’s very valuable to us on the defensive end, leading the team in ground balls and forced takeaways.”
Cougar goalie Simon Milatz earned the victory between the posts, making five saves. The victory improved Dakota’s record to 4-3 overall, 2-0 league.