CHICAGO, Ill. – The Calvin University men's lacrosse team overcame a four-goal deficit in the second half to win 10-9 at Illinois Tech on Wednesday.
 
Calvin (5-3) trailed 7-3 near the midway point of the third quarter, but came back to take the lead late in the fourth quarter. After a late Illinois Tech (2-4) goal to with 88 seconds remaining tied the score 9-9, Jordan Warners (Orange, Calif./Crean Lutheran) scored the game-winning goal with three seconds to play in regulation to give the Knights the win.
 
The Knights got off to a hot start as Braden Carpenter (Noblesville, Ind./Noblesville) scored twice in the opening quarter to give them a 2-0 lead.
 
The Scarlet Hawks answered, scoring twice late in the first quarter to tie the score 2-2, and then adding two goals in the final minute of the second quarter to take a 4-2 lead into halftime.
 
After Illinois Tech scored three of the first four goals to open the second half, Calvin answered with two goals from Nick Griffith (Geneva, Fla./Oviedo) and a man-up goal by Christian Coler (Ionia, N.Y./Honeyoye Falls-Lima) to cut the deficit to 7-6 after three quarters.
 
Thomas Smith (Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich./Grosse Pointe South) tied the score 7-7 early in the fourth quarter, and after Illinois Tech regained the lead with a goal at the 4:16 mark, Joshua Moyer (Allentown, Pa./Allentown Central Catholic) tied the game at 8-8 just 21 seconds later off an assist by Coler.
 
Warners gave the Knights a brief one-goal lead with 3:30 to play, but the Scarlet Hawks scored with a man advantage with 1:28 remaining before Warners buried the game winner in the final seconds to secure the Calvin win.
 
Carpenter led the Calvin attack with three goals and nine shots on goal, while Griffith and Warners each scored twice. Coler finished with one goal and two assists to go with eight ground balls. Nate Hanson (Naperville, Ill./Naperville North) also came up big for the Knights with 15 faceoff wins in 22 attempts.
 
In goal, Corgan Schaumburg (Rockton, Ill./Hononegah) saved 10 of the 19 shots he faced.
 
COACH'S COMMENT: "We had a tough and gritty win tonight," Calvin head men's lacrosse coach Dave Hoger said. "We had to overcome some adversity and some mental mistakes in the first half and the guys did just that. We will learn from this game and are excited for another opportunity on Saturday."
 
NEXT UP: Calvin men's lacrosse returns to action on Saturday, March 23, when it hosts Benedictine in a game scheduled to start at 1:00 PM at Zuidema Field.