BLOOMINGTON, ILLINOIS - Southwestern University Men's Lacrosse earns a signature win on the road at Illinois Wesleyan University on Sunday afternoon, 13-12. The Pirates are the first team in 28 Illinois Wesleyan home games to come out victorious. Most importantly, Southwestern leaves the Midwest with two victories to start the season. 

The Pirates allowed five unanswered goals, trailing 10-8 in the fourth quarter. Five different Pirates contributed goals in the fourth quarter, including the game-winning goal by sophomore Nolan Zaby. The goalkeeping difference statistically made the biggest difference in the game as the Titans totaled 52 goals, opposed to the Pirates 32. 

Sophomore Dante Avicolli was a dominant force in goal with a career-high 22 saves and a save percentage of .647 which also marked a career-high. Avicolli finished with the most single-season saves since Charlie Fisher totaled 25 (school record) in 2015. Illinois Wesleyan was coming off three straight seasons of winning their conference in the CCIW. The Titans hadn't lost a home game in 1,000 days prior to Sunday.

1Q | SWU 3, IWU 2

• Five minutes elapsed before sophomore Nolan Zaby patiently beat the goalie for the games first goal. 
• Sophomore Keaten Cox avoided multiple slash attempts to score the second Pirate goal. 
• Senior Jackson Strauser made it 3-1 Pirates. Strauser improved to 5 for 6 shooting on the season. 
• IWU scored to cut within one after the first quarter. 

2Q | SWU 5, IWU 3

• Freshman Dylan Knighten broke through the middle and scored his first career goal as the Pirates took advantage of the extra man. 
• Junior Trey Pena won the next faceoff and dished to Cox for his second goal of the night. Cox contributed to four of the first five Pirate goals with two goals and two assists. 
• Both teams traded turnovers with only three combined goals in the period. 
• Avicolli was dominant with 12 saves in the half. His career high is 20 saves last season against Calvin. 

3Q | SWU 8, IWU 8

• Within 30 seconds, both Knighten and senior Matthew Swandal scored to build a three-goal cushion. 
• However, the Titans scored to pull within two. Southwestern looked to put the throttle down as they allowed University of Dubuque to make a near three-goal comeback on Friday. 
• Cox scored a hat trick before the Titans scored three unanswered goals to tie the game at eight. 
• Avicolli finished the three quarter with 18 saves. 

4Q | SWU 13, IWU 12

• IWU added two more goals with five unanswered. Senior Chris Steffek flipped the game as the defensemen scored his first goal on a frozen rope. 
• Freshman Marshall Mohun somehow evaded the Titan double-team to score and tie the game at ten. 
• Freshman Abram Gareis scored an incredible individual effort goal to even it at 11-11. 
• Southwestern ran in transition as Strauser caught a pass from Swandal who fired a seed into the net, tying the score with three minutes remaining. 
• Zaby gave the Pirates the 13-12 lead with two minutes remaining as the Pirates defense held tough in final two minutes to win. 

MATCH NOTES

• Southwestern won the faceoff battle once again (15-28). Pena went 28-49 on the weekend. 
• Cox led the way offensively with three goals and two assists. 
• Avicolli also added ten ground balls, while sophomore Sam Stillwell had seven along with three caused turnovers. 

UP NEXT
Southwestern hits the road to take on Methodist University on February 27 and Pfeiffer University on March 1st in North Carolina.