For the fifth time in program history, the John Carroll men's lacrosse team opened its season with a victory, breaking away from an early deadlock to defeat the Concordia University Falcons, 12-6, on Saturday afternoon at Don Shula Stadium at Wasmer Field.

Both teams seemed to be evenly matched, with each of them being named the preseason favorites in their conferences. Despite Concordia sticking with John Carroll for the first quarter, an offensive onslaught by Brendan Whitty, and Cam Gerard helped the Blue Streaks pull away in the end.

Concordia was first to get on the board in the opening quarter, but that would be the only time the Falcons would hold a lead for the rest of the match. The Blue Streaks answered back, outscoring Concordia 2-1 to tie the score at two by the quarter's close. Junior Skyler Blake and sophomore Brendan Whitty scored the goals, with Patrick O'Grady being awarded the assist on Blake's goal and Blake getting the assist for Whitty's.

The John Carroll defense held the Falcons scoreless in the second quarter. Their strong effort in combination with three more JCU goals gave the Blue Streaks a three-goal advantage (5-2) at the break.

The third quarter made things interesting, with both teams tallying two goals. Josh Plarr ended the third quarter with buzzer beating goal to make the score 7-4. The momentum remained with the Blue and Gold in the final quarter. JCU outscored Concordia 5-2 in the final quarter to make the final score 12-6.
 
Sophomore Brendan Whitty led the John Carroll offense, recording four goals, five points, and one assist over the course of the game, while juniors Cam Gerard and Skyler Blake combined for five goals and seven points. Blake and junior Bennett Gorman also tied for the team high in assists (2).

The Blue Streak defense only allowed 31 shots total en route to their victory. 11 of those shots were saved by senior Jacob Betz, who took home the win (1-0). Sophomore Clayton Karam also tallied three caused turnovers and led the way with six ground balls. O'Grady also had two caused turnovers as JCU finished with 12 on the afternoon.

Freshman Evan Schneeberger was solid in his debut in the face off, winning 12 of 20 opportunities.

Concordia's Garrett Wohlford (0-1) kept the Falcons in the match, finishing the game with 21 saves on 33 shots on goal.

John Carroll will next compete on Sunday, March 3 when the Blue Streaks host the Fighting Scots of The College of Wooster at 1 p.m.