First year head coach Chris Cooper may have drawn the short straw for his debut, let alone his team's season opening game.

The Blue Streaks hit the road to face Aurora University, a team that has won three consecutive Midwest Lacrosse Conference (MLC) Championships and has made two consecutive trips to the NCAA Division III Sweet 16. The Spartans were picked to once again win the MLC.
 
Using a second half burst, Aurora spoiled Cooper's inaugural game as John Carroll head coach, 17-11. JCU was outscored 9-2 in the second half.

The way the game began, Cooper seemed in position to steal a win from a quality opponent in temperatures that hovered around zero degrees.

After Aurora scored on the game's first possession, JCU rallied for three unanswered goals. RP Whitty became the first player other than Gary Anile to open the season with a goal when he scored in the opening minute of play to tie the score.

Declan O'Grady then popped in a goal, and Whitty followed to give JCU a 3-1 advantage less than two full minutes into the match.

The Blue Streaks stayed ahead for a majority of the first half. In fact, O'Grady's fifth goal of the afternoon gave John Carroll a 9-5 lead at the 10:45 mark of the second period.

That was when the momentum began to change. Aurora scored the final three goals of the half, and John Carroll took a tenuous 9-8 lead into the break.

The host Spartans stepped on the gas in the third period, taking their first lead just a little over four minutes into the action. Only a Collin Rice goal at the 2:59 mark stopped the onslaught briefly, but the damage had been done. Aurora took a 12-10 lead into the fourth and pulled away over the final 15 minutes.

The Blue Streaks (0-1) outshot their hosts by a 40-33 margin and won their fair share of faceoffs (18-11), but 27 turnovers proved to be the undoing.

O'Grady led the way with six goals for John Carroll, while Rice and Whitty each had two.

Aurora (1-0) was paced by eight goals from Bailey Smith, tying a program record.