The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
JCU wins in first-ever NCAA home game
The John Carroll men’s lacrosse team has won six straight Ohio Athletic Conference championships, so success is nothing new to the program.
On May 11, something was entirely new. The Blue Streaks hosted an NCAA Division III Tournament game for the first time in program history.
JCU delivered big time on the big stage.
Matt Berdysiak — who leads JCU and the OAC with 68 goals — added four more, goalie Jon Gaglio made 15 saves, and the defense smothered North Central en route to an 11-3 victory.
The Blue Steaks (17-2) next play on May 14 at No. 7-ranked Union (N.Y.) — the first time since 2019 they’ve advanced to the second round.
For JCU, the setting could not have been played out better. A tournament home game with perfect weather as the background made for a memorable game and result for Coach Joe Rautenstrauch.
“Having a warm game in Cleveland is rare, but it was truly a special moment,” said Rautenstrauch. “Even during finals week there was a great showing (of fans), which truly shows how important this win means.”
It took a while for the JCU offense to get going, and North Central (9-8) was the first to find the net when Nick Rubino scored with a little less than two minutes into the game.
It stayed that way until
the end of the first period when Ian Flynn scored for the Blue Steaks from Brendan Whitty with 1 second remaining and tied the game at 1.
In the second, the Blue Steaks went to work. Carter Pavain scored unassisted to make it 2-1 at the 7:52 mark. Berdysiak scored the first of his four goals at 3:24, and six seconds later Morgan Morrell added a goal on another assist from Whitty.
JCU took that 4-1 lead into halftime.
North Central added two goals early in the third to make it a one-goal at 4-3, but Gaglio protected the net the rest of the way and the offense again when to work.
“It was awesome to get 15 saves,” said Gaglio. “I just can’t wait to get back to the drawing board and fight to keep this season alive.”
As the third quarter
was winding down, the Blue Steaks stretched their lead to 7-3 on two goals by Berdysiak, another by Jared Gorenflo and two more assists by Whitty.
“To have this game as my final (home) at John Carroll is really a special moment,” said Whitty, a senior who had a goal and four assists. “To go out on a win and keep this season alive is really important to me and this team.”