BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The Elmhurst men's lacrosse team's 2017 season came to a close with a 23-12 loss to Illinois Wesleyan University in the semifinals of the CCIW Tournament.

Elmhurst (8-9), seeded third in the tournament, erased an early 4-1 deficit and built a 6-5 lead in the second quarter, but Illinois Wesleyan used an 8-0 run to close the half to open up a commanding 13-6 lead. Elmhurst closed to within four goals with just eight minutes left in the fourth quarter, but IWU (14-3) scored the game's final seven goals to pull away for the 11-goal win. 

The Titans scored just 11 seconds into the contest to take an early 1-0 lead, but Elmhurst answered back on a Matt Westhaver goal just 47 seconds later to pull even at 1-1. IWU used three straight goals to build a 4-1 cushion with 12:39 left in the first, but Elmhurst used goals from Dan O'Connell, Mac Harden and Westhaver to to pull even at 4-4 after one quarter.

IWU struck first in the second on an Evan Mok-Lamme goal just over two minutes into the quarter, but Elmhurst answered back, scoring two goals just 19 seconds apart to take its first lead of the contest. Westhaver scored just 29 seconds after Mok-Lamme to even the score at 5-5 and Harden scored 19 seconds later to give Elmhurst the lead at 6-5. 

The Titans dominated the final 12 minutes of the half, outscoring Elmhurst 8-0 to build a 13-6 lead at the half. IWU tacked on two early goals at the start of the third to build a 15-6 lead, before Elmhurst surged back. Goals from O'Connell, Ty Funderburk and Westhaver brought Elmhurst to within six after three quarters. Funderburk scored just 2:39 into the fourth to cut the Titans' lead down to five. Mok-Lamme stopped Elmhurst's scoring streak to put IWU back in front by six with 12 minutes remaining, Funderburk and Harden scored 52 seconds apart to make the score 16-12 and bring Elmhurst to within four with eight minutes remaining. 

IWU pulled away for the win by scoring seven times in the final 5:47 to earn the 23-12 victory. 

IWU outshot Elmhurst 49-47 in the contest and finished with a 49-25 edge in ground balls. The Titans also won 25-of-36 faceoffs.

Westhaver and Harden paced Elmhurst in the loss with five points apiece. Westhaver totaled four goals and one assist while Harden netted three goals and dished out two assists. Harden added a team-leading six ground balls in the loss. Funderburk added three goals for Elmhurst while O'Connell scored two. Nick Bonastia took the loss in net while recording 16 saves.

Michael Julius led the Titans' offense with eight points, finishing with five goals and three assists. Bailey Marth and Alex Doorenbos added three goals apiece for IWU. Steven Laduzinsky earned the win in goal for IWU with 17 saves.

Elmhurst finished the season with an 8-9 overall record and a 4-2 mark in the CCIW.