LISLE, IL - The Benedictine University men's lacrosse team is bound for the NCAA Tournament after winning the first ever Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference automatic bid by bettering Aurora at home.

FINAL SCORE
Benedictine 10, Aurora 8

THE DETAILS
• Aurora led just once in the contest after scoring the opening goal
• Nic Perkins tied it less than a minute later with an unassisted tally
• Colin Domek put Benedictine ahead for the first time at 2-1 with 7:50 left in the opening quarter
• The contest was tight throughout with Benedictine never leading by more than two goals
• Benedictine led 6-4 at halftime as Domek scored in a man-up situation
• Aurora came out strong to start the third quarter, outscoring Benedictine 4-2 to send the game to an 8-8 tie entering the fourth
• Mateo Salceda scored the go-ahead goal, just his fifth of the year, with 9:23 left in the fourth
• The defense and goalie Evan Kilbane held strong, consistently preventing the visitors from scoring
• With under two minutes left Anthony Leahy set up Joe Spahn for an insurance goal into a virtually open net
• The win marked the 11th straight for Benedictine
• Benedictine had never beaten Aurora before the 2021 season but recorded two wins this year to claim both the regular season and tournament titles, the first ever awarded by the NACC and the first ones in program history

STAT LEADERS
• Aurora held a 39-33 advantage in shots
• Benedictine picked up 46 groundballs
• Domek scored four goals
• Thomas Tillett scored three times including two in a row in the first and added an assist
• Five different players scored with seven recording a point
• Kilbane recorded 12 saves in goal

UP NEXT
Benedictine (13-2) will have to wait a week to find out their NCAA assignment. The pairings will be announced on May 9.