RIVER FOREST, Ill. -- After a back-and-forth first half, the Marian Sabres unleashed their offense to defeat Concordia-Chicago men's lacrosse, 19-10.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:

• Marian and CUC combined for 15 penalties in today's match up.
• Brett Krueger and Tate Macfarlane combined for eight of Concordia-Chicago's 10 goals.
• Netminder Jack Liskey had 15 saves in the loss.

CUC started off the game with conviction. Rookie Macfarlane kicked off the day with back-to-back nearly identical goals, giving CUC a 2-0 lead with seven minutes to go in the first frame.

MLAX: Tate Macfarlane is on FIRE!!! Second goal of the game leading the Cougars 2-0! pic.twitter.com/3GmwGMK7ZI

— CUC Athletics (@CUChicagoSports) March 30, 2019

A few minutes later Krueger would tally his first goal of the day, off a short pass from Brian Harris that gave the Cougars a solid 3-1 lead. 

With momentum in their hands, Concordia-Chicago's defense started to struggle as the Cougars allowed three-straight Marian goals to end the first quarter.

Down 4-3, CUC responded to the adversity and opened up the second frame with three consecutive goals of their own. Macfarlane started off the surge after the Cougars earned a man-up opportunity, and Hunter Combe followed suit with two back-to-back goals himself. 

With Concordia-Chicago leading 6-4, Marian's offense kicked their scoring into high gear and went on a 6-1 scoring tear to close out the half and take a 10-7 lead. At halftime, shots on goal were 18-10, in favor of the Sabres.

Marian kept their hot-streak rolling into the second half, as the Sabres opened up with three more goals to take a commanding 13-7 lead. Krueger would be the one to stunt the Marian run, dodging several Sabre defenders before tabbing his second and CUC's eighth goal of the afternoon.

Down by five, Liskey kept the Cougars in the game by making clutch stops down the stretch.

MLAX: Great save by Jack Liskey!!! The Cougars are trailing behind 8-13 with 2 minutes to go in the 3rd! pic.twitter.com/2WGYhnNLvL

— CUC Athletics (@CUChicagoSports) March 30, 2019

After the big stop from Liskey, CUC earned another man-up chance and were able to convert the goal from a Macfarlane shot to close out the third quarter, down 13-9.

MLAX: Tate Macfarlane with the FIRE shot to put the score 9-13!! pic.twitter.com/2dN9Qc1UTV

— CUC Athletics (@CUChicagoSports) March 30, 2019

Concordia-Chicago ended its scoring for the day after Jordan Loeffler assisted Krueger on the Cougars' third man-up goal of the day. From there, Marian scored six unanswered goals to run away with the 19-10 victory.

CUC returns to action next weekend in St. Paul to face Northwestern (MN).