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John Carroll University Athletics

home of the Blue Streaks
2021 MLAX OAC
The Blue Streaks have now captured five OAC titles in a row.
12
Winner John Carroll JCU-M 14-1
6
Baldwin Wallace BW-M 13-2
Winner
John Carroll JCU-M
14-1
12
Final
6
Baldwin Wallace BW-M
13-2
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
John Carroll JCU-M 3 3 1 5 12
Baldwin Wallace BW-M 4 1 1 0 6

Game Recap: Men's Lacrosse | | Kyle Kelly, Senior Staff Writer

FIVE-PEAT: Men's Lacrosse Roars in 4th Quarter to Best BW and Win OAC Title

BEREA, Ohio -- Every year is different. With each year comes a different set of circumstances but this one in particular was especially challenging for the John Carroll University Men's Lacrosse team. Despite all of the obstacles — no fall ball, meeting new teammates one month before the season and playing in the midst of a pandemic — all they did was win. 
 
That included tonight, as the Blue Streaks scored seven unanswered goals to beat Baldwin Wallace University, 12-6, in the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament Championship at Lou Groza Field on May 8.

John Carroll has now captured the last five OAC Championships and has once again punched its ticket to the NCAA Tournament.
 
"Hard work pays off, that's about it," Head Coach Joe Rautenstrauch said of his fourth career OAC Championship following the on-field celebration. "We have guys that believe in what we do here. It's not easy. If you're going to come here, you are going to work hard and win championships. We told the guys all day yesterday and today that the hay is in the barn. We just had to be us."
 
In the first half, the Yellow Jackets and the Blue Streaks played a tightly contested match that kept JCU honest on both ends of the field. To no surprise, the NCAA's leading goal getter, Skyler Blake, scored game's first goal 1:31 into the match. The Blue and Gold appeared destined for their next trophy.
 
However, the OAC regular season champion Yellow Jackets quickly proved they were well prepared to hang around with the defending-champion Blue Streaks. BW rattled off two goals in 43 seconds to take its first lead of the game (2-1) less than five minutes into the opening quarter. It didn't last long.
 
That's when Blake shifted into gear with an answer 1:13 later to tie the game off a pass from John Carroll's all-time assists leader, Brendan Whitty. Blake scored once more 41 seconds later as the Blue and Gold regained the lead (3-2).
 
"I was feeling juiced up," Blake said standing next to his partner in crime, Bennett Gorman, afterward. "I started off strong early. I didn't get any after that, but I fed off my teammates. I knew they were going to step up in the end."
 
Baldwin Wallace fed off the momentum from the home stadium crowd and stung twice before the end of the first quarter and take a 4-3 lead. That left JCU trailing after the first quarter for the first time all year.
 
In the second quarter, Whitty directed the offense and found Matt Berdysiak, who scored his first of four goals on the night 3:46 into the period to tie the game back up at four. After 6:30 of scoreless play, BW responded and took back the lead (5-4). However, that was the last time of the game the Yellow Jackets played with the advantage.
 
Just before the half, Ian Flynn buried his first of two goals with 17 seconds left on the clock. Then, seven seconds later, defenseman Brendan Hein tacked on another, for his second goal of the season and first score in five games. John Carroll took a 6-5 lead into the locker room.
 
To open up the second half, neither team found the back of the net for the first 6:38. Finally, Baldwin Wallace broke the silence to knot the game at six.
 
With the Yellow Jackets defense locking down Blake, it opened scoring chances for the rest of the JCU offense for the remainder of the game. Berdysiak capitalized on the opportunity with his first of three goals in the second half that put the Blue Streaks back in the lead (7-6) with 3:58 left in the third quarter — a lead in which they never surrendered.
 
"I saw a lot of him being open in the first half. So, hey, we called some plays to get him open in the second half," Rautenstrauch said. "He's really good and they weren't really respecting him early on. He made them pay in the second half."
 
Forty-three seconds into the fourth quarter, Flynn scored his second of the night that fastened the Blue Streaks in the driver's seat for the win. 
 
Berdysiak scored two more that secured a game-high four-goals, which ensured all Blue and Gold had to do is protect their lead and the trophy would remain in University Heights.
 
"That was a huge momentum shift in the game," Berdysiak said. "I couldn't have done it without my teammates."
 
Whitty assisted on Berdysiak's third goal for his second helper of the game. Morgan Morrell was credited with the support on the fourth goal that gave JCU the 10-5 advantage with 4:46 left to play.
 
Kevin Hack put the icing on the cake with an unassisted goal with 3:38 left and Bennett Gorman capped off the night with one more goal for good measure with 45 seconds before the Blue Streaks stormed the field in celebration of the championship victory.
 
"This team definitely has a certain grit," Gorman said, standing alongside Blake near midfield. "Thank God for Coach Raut. He has been riding us all season and it pays off in games like this. We were up one at half and ended up doubling the score. I couldn't be more proud of the guys."
 
Once again, the Blue Streaks rode a strong defensive performance on the road to victory. JCU only gave up one goal in the third quarter and kept the ball out of the net for the final 23:22 of the game.
 
"Coach Tim Edwards has those guys running like a well-oiled machine," Rautenstrauch said of Edwards, who is tasked with orchestrating the defense. "The guys respect the mind of him. He was hired Jan. 1, and earned the guys' trust early on. We're second in goals against in the country for a reason."
 
The defensive leader, Clayton Karam (two caused turnovers, four ground balls), indicated the team changed its mindset coming out of the locker room for the second half.
 
"We said, 'No more.' They got a lot in the first quarter and poured it on pretty quickly. We stumbled a little bit," he said. "We dug in and held them to only one goal in the entire second half. It was a strong effort."
 
Although he was held scoreless for the final 53 minutes of the game, Blake led the team with three caused turnovers and five ground balls. Alexander Sykas caused two himself and Hein and Robbie Robinson scooped up four ground balls. As a team, the Blue Streaks prevented Baldwin Wallace from only being successful on 12 of 21 clears and won both the turnover and (22-18) ground ball (32-24) battle.
 
With the win, John Carroll improved to 14-1 on the season and have won its last 13 games. The Blue Streaks will learn their opponent in the NCAA Tournament tomorrow at 9 p.m. The first round will begin on Saturday, May 15.
 
"We are ready to break some new territories here," Gorman said. "Our goal for a while is to win a couple of games in the tournament and we are ready to get after it."
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