Crawfordsville, Ind. — Saturday marked the beginning of the 2022 season for the Concordia University Chicago men's lacrosse team and the first game of the Scott Gwyn era. The team hit the road to take on Wabash College, falling 15-1 to the Little Giants.
Wabash got the scoring going under a minute and a half into the game and quickly made it 2-0 less than a minute later. After the hectic start, the Cougars settled in on defense, leading to more offensive possessions.
The Cougars struggled to generate many looks at the net, producing just four shots in the first half. The Little Giants' goalie was forced to make only two saves in the first 30 minutes of action.
On the other side, freshman Peter Borkowski (St. Louis, Mo.) saved nine of 15 shots faced in the first half, good for a .600 save percentage.
After allowing two goals in the first, the Cougars surrendered four in the second. Two of these came just 35 seconds apart (4:17 and 3:42). The Cougars worked a shot off in the final minute, but went into halftime scoreless and trailing by six.
The Little Giants once again scored three minutes into the second half, and followed that up with another goal 40 seconds later.
Though they trailed, the Cougars continued to fight, with senior Frank Dougherty (East Peoria, Ill.) and junior Jarred Tabor (Crystal Lake, Ill.) both producing shots on the ensuing possession.
As the quarter drew near close, Tabor once again had a shot at the net, this time scoring on a wraparound shot to put the Cougars on the board for the first time in 2022. Tabor had five of the Cougars 12 shots, and produced three of their four shots on goal.
Wabash added four more goals in the final period, with the final one coming with 14 seconds remaining. The Cougars did manage to hold them scoreless for more than eight minutes prior to that final goal.
The Cougars will take a two week break before welcoming Earlham College to Concordia Stadium on Saturday, March 12, for their home opener. The game is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m., and coverage will be available at cucougars.com/coverage.
