Box Score For the first time in the brief history of men's lacrosse in the Ohio Athletic Conference, it was an all Cleveland championship final as the John Carroll University Blue Streaks hosted the Baldwin Wallace Yellow Jackets at Don Shula Stadium.

As if the drama needed more amperage, the Blue Streaks were hoping to exact a bit of revenge for its only league loss in the last three seasons. The last time these two teams battled, also at Shula Stadium, the Yellow Jackets came back from 10-3 down in the second half to emerge victorious, 12-11, in a double overtime thriller.

The outcome of that April 11 meeting loomed large over the proceedings tonight. John Carroll would not allow a repeat performance.

Instead, it was a command performance by the JCU squad, as strong play in all phases of the game led to a 19-9 victory over the Yellow Jackets that cemented the Blue Streaks' third consecutive conference tournament championship.

JCU head men's lacrosse coach Joe Rautenstrauch was excited with his second straight conference championship victory.

"The hard work paid off," said Rautenstrauch. "It was nice to get revenge against our crosstown rivals."

The Blue Streaks took a five goal lead into the fourth quarter last time around against the Yellow Jackets, but that lead was erased with a BW goal to tie the game with two seconds remaining in regulation.

Tonight, JCU never trailed and outscored Baldwin Wallace in every quarter. It was the largest margin of victory in the history of the series.

 "Our seniors have been through four tough years of intense games against these guys," said Rautenstrauch. "We wanted to see them again."

JCU had help from their senior class in tonight's win.

Senior Connor Pike lead the way in scoring for the Blue and Gold with four goals, his most in a game as a Blue Streak. Pike was held scoreless last time around BW, so the game plan for tonight's game had to change.

"We turned to our bench to have some fresh legs to keep the pressure on throughout the game" said Pike.

Fellow senior Logan Calhoun added three goals and an assist.

"We let them get away last time," said Calhoun. "Our goal in January was to keep the conference championship streak alive, and we felt we fully executed our game plan to win."

Sophomore midfielder Colin Corcoran started the Blue Streaks night out on the right foot, with the opening goal 3:24 into the match. JCU would hold the 1-0 lead to start, but it would not be held for long.

Baldwin Wallace's senior Matt McDowell countered 1:26 later to tie the game up early-on in the first quarter of competition.

JCU sparked a three goal run led by freshman attack Brendan Whitty, netting two of the three scores to provide the Blue and Gold with a 4-1 lead, their largest of the opening quarter.

Blue Streaks season leading goal scorer sophomore Skyler Blake reminisced back to the previous meeting between these two teams, scoring with two seconds remaining in the first quarter to establish a 5-3 lead.

Before the end of the half JCU caught fire with another three goal run, including two scores within the final 15 seconds before the break. Junior Braden Kaib netted his first career collegiate goal with seven seconds remaining to deliver a 9-4 lead at the end of the first half.

The Blue Streaks dominated across the board especially on the offensive end during the first thirty minutes. The Blue and Gold outshot BW 26-12, won 12 of 14 faceoffs, gathered 15 ground balls opposed to the Yellow Jackets' five, and also successfully cleared all of their five attempts.

To open the second half the Blue Streaks and Yellow Jackets traded scores, but Baldwin Wallace cut the JCU lead to five scores at the 6:10 mark in the third quarter.

The Blue and Gold three top goal scorers Calhoun, Pike, and Blake contributed three goals within the first seven minutes of the fourth quarter, to give JCU the 17-8 lead which was their second largest lead of the night.

With 2:43 to go in the contest, sophomore Nick Pompelia scored his second goal of the season as the Blue Streaks were victorious with a 19-9 win to their third consecutive conference and clinch an NCAA Tournament berth.

At the end of play, the Blue Streaks held the advantage in ground balls (31-18), faceoffs (23-8), and clear attempts (14-7).

In goal, senior Will Good and junior Jacob Betz split time and combined for five saves.

JCU is heading to NCAA competition for the third straight year, but this time their carrying a six game win streak into the tournament. The team has averaged 14.5 goals per game this season.  

"We need to keep our offense clicking," said Pike of his team's NCAA quest. "Our offense is at the top of our game."

The Blue Streaks will learn their opponent and seeding this Sunday May 6th, at 9:00 P.M. during the official NCAA tournament show.

"We are going to treat every opponent the same," said Rautenstrauch. "We will be ready to go with whomever we will face."