The Benedictine University men's lacrosse team has played three matches in the 2015 season, and all of those have come on the road. Things will change for the Eagles over the next two weeks, as the team will head out for a three-match road trip from March 11 through March 18. The team will oppose Augustana College on March 11 before heading south to take on Huntington College on March 16 and Birmingham Southern College on March 18.
Men's lacrosse (2-1) closed out the three-match homestand on Friday afternoon with a 14-7 win over Olivet College. After a tightly contested first half, BenU exploded in half number two, outscoring the Comets 5-1 in the third quarter and 8-3 for the entire half. The Eagles outshot Olivet 44-20 and received three-goal performances from both
Blake Keenan and
David Blanco.
Jeremy Voyda made his first start in net as an Eagle, recording five saves.
Wednesday, March 11: at Augustana (3-2), 7:00 p.m.
Benedictine starts the stretch of games away from Lisle with a weeknight trip to Rock Island, Illinois. Former members of the Midwest Lacrosse Conference, the Vikings of Augustana now compete in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin. In two years as a part of the MLC, the Vikings made the conference tournament in both season and posted a 14-4 regular season record against the conference.
The Vikings have played a road-heavy schedule thus far, going 2-2 away from home compared to just 1-0 in Rock Island. Augustana has scored double-digit goals just once on the season, netting 13 in the team's last victory over Berry College on March 5. The Vikings have been off from match action since then and will begin a three-match homestand against BenU on Wednesday.
Augustana defeated Benedictine twice in Lisle as members of the MLC. Last season, the two teams tied with 6-4 MLC records, but the Vikings earned the fourth and final seed of the conference tournament by way of a 12-5 win in Lisle. In 2013, Augustana won 16-6 in BenU's second to last match of the season.
Monday, March 16: at Huntingdon (1-6), 7:00 p.m.
Hailing from Montgomery, Alabama, the Hawks of Huntingdon compete as independents at the Division III level of men's lacrosse. While the team is off to a 1-6 start in 2015, Huntingdon has improved in each season of its existence. The team finished 5-10 in its inaugural season of 2012, but improved to 7-8 in 2013 and 10-6 last year. Huntingdon is currently on a five-match losing streak, with the team's last victory coming at Millsaps College on February 11.
Benedictine and Huntindgon met in a neutral site game last season, with the Hawks prevailing 10-7 in Nashville, Tennessee. BenU led 3-2 after one, but netted just two goals over the next two periods despite outshooting the Hawks 42-38 for the match. Keenan scored three times in the contest, while
Jeffrey Smitheram made 11 saves.
Wednesday, March 18: at Birmingham Southern College (4-2), 1:00 p.m.
The Eagles will play a second game in Alabama two days later, heading north on I-65 to Birmingham to take on the Panthers of Birmingham Southern. Members of the Southern Athletic Association, BSC is in its seventh year as a varsity program. The Panthers have finished over .500 in three seasons, including a 14-5 record in 2012 that brought a conference championship in the SCAC and a trip to the NCAA Division III Tournament.
The team could be on its way to another strong season, posting a 4-2 record to start the 2015 season. Offensively, the team has averaged 10.17 goals per contest while totaling 42 assists, both ranking third in the seven-team SAA. BSC has struggled a bit in net, ranking last in the conference with a save percentage of 46.6%.
