ELMHURST, Ill. – The Elmhurst men's lacrosse team secured its spot in the 2018 CCIW Tournament by overpowering North Central 16-8 at Langhorst Field.

Elmhurst upped its record to 12-2 overall and 4-1 in the CCIW with the victory. The Bluejays moved one step closer to securing a first-round conference tournament home game at Langhorst Field as well, remaining in second place in the CCIW standings. North Central slid to 5-9 overall and 1-3 in league play.
 
North Central jumped out to a 2-1 lead just over three minutes into the game, but Elmhurst quickly evened the score at 2-2 on a Mac Harden goal, just 10 seconds after the Cardinals had taken a 2-1 lead. Neither team scored for the next 20 minutes until Elmhurst ripped off a five-goal outburst in the span of just 3:27. Cullen Nordemann's goal gave the Bluejays a 3-2 lead. Just over a minute later, Dan O'Connell scored off a Jake Cambron feed to extend Elmhurst's lead to 4-2. Cambron scored with 2:21 remaining and Harden followed 15 seconds later to put the Bluejays up 6-2. Nordemann scored with 1:17 left in the half to give the Bluejays a 7-2 lead. North Central scored before the half to make the score 7-3 at halftime.
 
Elmhurst scored the first two goals of the third quarter before North Central scored to make the score 9-4. Elmhurst rattled off the next seven goals, extending the Bluejays' lead to 16-4 with just 6:22 to go. The Cardinals scored the final four goals of the contest to make the final score 16-8.
 
Elmhurst outshot North Central 35-32 and held a 34-29 edge in ground balls.
 
Harden led Elmhurst in the win with six points, pumping in five goals while adding an assist. Hardens five goals give him 53 for the season and broke his own single-season goals record in the process, bettering his previous mark of 50 set last season. Nordemann added six points as well, tallying four goals and adding two assists. Marcus Yandall totaled three assists while Andrew Frerich scored two goals. Cambron and Andrew Lentz finished with a goal and an assist apiece while Jake Heil also scored for the Bluejays. Carter Meyer won 11 faceoffs and picked up seven ground balls. Eric Langston caused three turnovers and totaled five ground balls. Jacob Delgado picked up the win in goal, recording 11 saves.
 
Danny Boyle, Jacob Ray and Tommy Huizinga scored two goals apiece to lead the Cardinals in the loss.
 
Elmhurst closes out its regular season by traveling to Augustana College on Saturday, April 28. A win by Elmhurst would guarantee the Bluejays a first-round home game in the CCIW Tournament.