WHITTIER, Calif. - The Elmhurst men's lacrosse team opened its two-game California road trip with a hard-fought8-7 win over DePauw University.

DePauw struck first, scoring just 35 seconds into the contest, but the Bluejays answered back with three straight goals. Mac Harden started the scoring off an assist from David Fracassa with 11:39 left in the first quarter. Dan O'Connell put the Bluejays up 2-1 late in the quarter with Harden tallying an assist on the play. Jackson Mandli gave Elmhurst (3-5) a 3-1 lead with an unassisted tally midway through the second quarter. 

DePauw (3-4) cut the lead in half with a shorthanded goal, but Matt Westhaver and Eric Langston scored just 28 seconds apart to give Elmhurst a 5-2 lead. DePauw's Buck Dorger scored with just 17 seconds remaining in the half to cut Elmhurst's lead down to 5-3 at halftime.

DePauw scored the only goal of the third quarter to pull to within one, but the Bluejays answered back with back-to-back goals. Tyler Dailey scored just 33 seconds into the fourth quarter to push Elmhurst's lead to two at 6-4. Mandli added a man-up goal off a feed from Nick Klenck with 11:40 remaining to increase the Bluejays' lead back to three. 

Andrew Wright and Steen Jorgensen scored back-to-back goals for the Tigers to bring DePauw back to within a goal with 5:20 remaining. O'Connell helped ice the game away for the Bluejays, scoring just 19 seconds after the DePauw goal to give Elmhurst a two-goal lead. The Bluejays allowed a goal, but held on the rest of the way to score an 8-7 victory.

Elmhurst held a 29-24 edge in ground balls while DePauw outshot the Bluejays 37-36. The Bluejays won 10-of-18 faceoffs in the contest. 

Nick Bonastia picked up the win in goal for the Bluejays, recording 20 saves in the contest, including seven in the opening quarter. Joe Musto took the loss for DePauw despite recording 12 saves for the Tigers.

O'Connell and Mandli paced Elmhurst's offense with two goals apiece while Harden tallied two points with a goal and an assist. Dailey scored a goal and won 10-of-17 faceoffs while Dan Curley forced three turnovers and scooped up seven ground balls.

Elmhurst faces Whittier on Friday, March 25.