April 13, 2016 - Concordia University Chicago and Benedictine University have shared one of the oldest college rivalries in the Chicago area for many years. Wednesday afternoon, however, marked the first time that the Cougars and Eagles had met in men's lacrosse. Benedictine won this initial contest 18-5 behind a big first half, but Concordia-Chicago battled to the end and won the second half with a determined 60-minute effort.

"Of course, I credit Benedictine for winning the game and playing well, but I credit our guys for a great effort," said CUC head coach Drew Stevenson. "The second half, they were battling against waves of Eagles' players who had much fresher legs, and we played well and continued to improve. Our winning the second half is something we can take and go forward with as we get ready for the next game."

Benedictine opened the scoring just 63 seconds into the match. The Eagles then opened things up with a 7-0 run in a six-minute span to take an 8-0 lead. Concordia-Chicago got on the board with 1:42 remaining in the quarter when Cal Crawford (Stillwater, MN/Cretin-Derham Hall) charged down the middle and beat the Eagles' goalie with a low shot to the left corner. Benedictine added a goal less than a minute later to make the score BU 9, CUC 1 after 15 minutes of play.

The Eagles owned the second quarter, scoring all six goals to lead 15-1 at the half. Tony DePinto scored his fourth of the match in the quarter, and Jimmy Lopez contributed a goal and six assists during the half.

Concordia-Chicago opened the scoring in the second half as Crawford set up Jordan Loeffler (Orland Hills, IL/Sandburg) for his tenth of the year. The Eagles got that goal back, but the Cougars scored again midway through the quarter. Co-captain Adam Ortiz (Chicago, IL/Mount Carmel) scored from a slight angle to the right side for his fifth of the year. The Eagles scored twice in the final minute of the third to take an 18-3 lead into the final 15 minutes of play.

The home team's effort in the fourth allowed them to win the quarter. Crawford scored with 2:53 left and then completed his hat trick in the final seconds on what was arguably CUC's prettiest goal of the season. Crawford took a pass from Ortiz and unleashed a behind-the-back shot that beat the BU goalie. The goal was Crawford's team-leading 20th of the season and 26th point.

The Cougar men will host their final home match of the season on Saturday afternoon when they take on the Milwaukee School of Engineering. First faceoff is set for 1 p.m.