AURORA, Il. – The Calvin men's lacrosse team was edged by Aurora University 7-6 Saturday afternoon.

Calvin led 3-1 at halftime but Aurora (3-3) outscored Calvin 4-1 in the third quarter to build a 5-4 lead.

Aurora went up 6-4 and then 7-5 before Calvin mounted a late comeback bid that came short in the final seconds.

The first quarter provided a defensive stalemate as neither team scored a goal.

Calvin got its offense going in the second quarter as junior Christian Coler (Ionia, N.Y. Honeyoye Falls-Lima) scored a pair of goals on the man advantage while junior Jacob Bledsoe (Mission Viejo, Calif. J. Serra Catholic) had a goal as well as the Knights took the 3-1 lead.

Aurora scored the first three goals of the third quarter to take a 4-3 lead. Junior Nick Griffith (Geneva, Fla. Oviedo) tied the game for Calvin at 4-4 with a goal off a feed from junior Cole McKenney (Mission Viejo, Calif. Trabuco Hills).

A late third period goal put Aurora up 5-4 and the host Spartans scored again midway through the fourth to take a 6-4 lead. Freshman Jordan Warners (Orange, Calif. Crean Lutheran) scored for Calvin seconds later to make it 6-5 but Aurora answered with a man-up goal to lead 7-5 with 6:46 remaining.

Cole McKenney found sophomore David Blackmon (Wheaton, Il./Wheaton North HS) for a goal with 2:42 remaining.

With the teams battling for possession of the ball, Calvin was whistled for a 60-second penalty with just 1:09 left to play. Calvin was able to regain the ball with under 20 seconds left and with six seconds remaining, called timeout for a chance at a game-tying shot. Calvin did get off a shot with one second left but the attempt was just wide of the post as Aurora held on for the win.

Cole McKenney finished the game with a career-high five assists along with five ground balls. Sophomore Nate Hanson (Naperville, Il./Naperville North HS) was 11 for 16 on faceoff opportunities. Senior Corgan Schaumburg (Rockton, Ill. Hononegah) recorded 15 saves for the Knights, one shy of matching a new career high.

COACHES COMMENT: "It was a hard-fought battle," said Calvin head coach Dave Hoger. "We knew coming in we'd have to play good defense and capitalize on their mistakes. We fought really hard and just came up short. We will regroup and get better next week."
NEXT UP: Calvin will travel to Illinois Institute of Technology for a non-conference game next Wednesday with the opening faceoff set for 6 p.m. (CST).