Men’s lacrosse: Olivet loses to Illinois Wesleyan, 13-12, in home-opener

OLIVET, Mich. – Playing its first true home of the game of the 2015 season, the Olivet College men's lacrosse team fell to Illinois Wesleyan University, 13-12, today at the Cutler Athletic Complex in Olivet.

Nick Winter scored twice to give the Titans an early 2-0 lead. Junior Dakota Badder scored with 1:52 left in the opening quarter to trim the Comets' deficit in half, 2-1. IWU went back up by two, 3-1, with a goal at the 13:34 mark of the second quarter.

Olivet tied the game at 3-3 with a pair of goals in a minute. Sophomore Nino Minaudo scored the first off a pass from junior Jack Ranson, while sophomore Tyler Polendo netted an unassisted goal for the second. After the Titans took the lead back, the Comets took their first lead of the game, 5-4, on unassisted goals by Badder and Polendo. The score stayed 5-4 at halftime.

Badder added another unassisted goal at the 13:19 mark of the third quarter to put Olivet up 6-4. IWU scored three straight goals to regain a 7-6 lead. The Comets answered with their own 3-0 run – two goals by Badder and one by Ranson – to take the lead back 9-7.

The Titans scored with 21 ticks left in the third stanza and then again with 13:47 left in the fourth quarter to level the score at 9-9. Minaudo and junior James Collins both scored in a 46-second span for an 11-9 Olivet lead. IWU scored the next three goals to surge ahead 12-11. Collins found the back of the net off a feed from Ranson to tie the game at 12-12 with 4:40 left.

The Titans quickly answered 26 seconds later with what proved to be the game-winning goal. The Comets had three chances to tie the game but twice turned the ball over and another time had a shot saved by the keeper.

As close as the scoring was, the shot totals was nearly equal with IWU having a slight 37-33 advantage. The Titans also scooped up three more ground balls, 39-36, but the real edge for them in the game was in face-offs, winning 22-of-29.

Badder finished the game with seven points on five goals and two assists. Ranson chipped in four points (one goal and three assists). Collins, Minaudo and Polendo each scored two goals. Minaudo and Badder finished with nine and eight shots, respectively. Sophomore David Smith played all 60 minutes in goal and made nine saves.

The Comets will be on the road for two games next week. On Wednesday, Olivet plays a 4 p.m. game at Hanover (Ind.) College and on Saturday, it plays a 5 p.m. game at John Carroll (Ohio) University.