ELMHURST, Ill. – Mac Harden scored four goals and became the first men's lacrosse player in Elmhurst history to record over 200 goals in a career while helping the Bluejays to a 12-8 win over Augustana College at a snow-covered Langhorst Field.
 
With wet snow falling and blanketing the field for the entire contest, Elmhurst built a five-goal lead in the fourth quarter before holding on for a 12-8 victory and securing a first-round home game in next week's CCIW Tournament.
 
Elmhurst (10-5, 5-1 CCIW) struck first, taking a 1-0 lead on Harden's first goal of the contest early in the first quarter. Augustana answered back to pull even on a Mark Teschke goal, but Ty Funderburk scored off a Harden assist 14 seconds later to put the Bluejays back in front. Trevor Moore answered back 30 seconds later for Augustana to keep the score tied at 2-2 after one quarter.
 
After the two team traded goals to start the second quarter, the Bluejays scored twice before the half to build a two-goal cushion. Harden fired home his third goal of the game, the 200th of his career, off a feed from Dan O'Connell to put Elmhurst on top 4-3 with 50 seconds left in the half. Twenty seconds later, Andrew Lentz ripped home a shot off a Marcus Yandall assist to give Elmhurst a two-goal cushion entering the half.
 
Augustana (8-9, 3-3 CCIW) scored first in the third quarter to pull to within one at 5-4, but Elmhurst rattled off the next four goals to take control of the contest. Funderburk, scored with 9:55 left and O'Connell scored on a man-advantage with 4:38 left in the third to extend the Bluejays' lead to 7-4. Harden scored at the start of the fourth quarter before O'Connell netted his second goal of the game three minutes later to put Elmhurst in front 9-4.
 
The Vikings used a 4-1 run over the next five minutes to close the deficit to two at 10-8. Carter Meyer gave the Bluejays some breathing room after Augustana's last goal, winning the faceoff cleanly and scoring just six seconds after the Vikings. Andrew Frerich put the game out of reach with a goal with just over four minutes remaining to cap the scoring.
 
Both teams finished with 39 shots while Elmhurst held a 50-20 edge in ground balls and finished 14-of-18 on clears.
 
Harden powered the Bluejays with four goals and an assist, breaking his own single-season records for goals scored (60) and total points (80) in the process. Funderburk and O'Connell finished with three points apiece as both players finished with two goals and an assist. Cullen Nordemann added three points on a goal and two assists while Yandall totaled three assists in the victory. Meyer added a goal while also totaling 13 ground balls and winning 18-of-24 faceoffs.

Harry Meredith picked up his third consecutive win in the cage, recording 12 saves while allowing just eight goals.
 
Teschke and Trevor Moore led Augustana with two goals apiece in the loss. Tommy Angelos recorded 14 saves in goal for the Vikings.
 
With the win, Elmhurst secured the No. 2 seed in next week's CCIW Tournament. The Bluejays will host the No. 3 seed next Wednesday, May 1 at Langhorst Field. Elmhurst's opponent will be determined by the winner of the North Central/Carthage game on Sunday, April 28. A win by Carthage would give the Red Men the No. 3 seed while a win by North Central would force a three-way tie for the final two spots for the CCIW Tournament.