April 28, 2012

For Immediate Release

Fort Wayne, Ind. – The 16th ranked Indiana Tech men’s lacrosse team was tied with No. 15 Hope College 11-11 in the final seconds of Saturday’s Central Collegiate Lacrosse League (CCLA) Quarterfinal matchup when sophomore Josh Puckett (Mason, OH/Mason) buried the game-winning shot with 0:01 left to send the Warriors into the semifinals.

Indiana Tech advances on to the CCLA Semifinals and will play the winner of Grand Valley State University and Oakland University on May 4 Saline High School in Saline, Michigan at 4 p.m.

After falling behind 4-1 at the end of the first quarter, the Warriors stormed back with three straight goals to tie the game with 3:41 to go in the second. Hope added a goal late to take a 5-4 lead into halftime.

The Flying Dutchmen capitalized on a man-up opportunity early in the third quarter to extend their advantage, but Tech scored three unanswered goals to end the quarter and take their first lead of the game 7-6.

The Warrior defense led by Max Glova (Alto, MI/Caledonia), Jeff Harter (Ft. Wayne, IN/Snider), and Dylan Johnston (Oshawa, Can/All Saints) continued to play strong and sophomore netminder Tony Loftus (Fishers, IN/Hamilton Southeastern) made several big saves while the offense tacked on two more goals to jump ahead 9-6 with 9:08 remaining in the game.

Hope wouldn’t go away though scoring at the 7:19 mark to cut the deficit to two and found the back of the net again just nine seconds later to make it a 9-8 Tech lead. The Flying Dutchmen added two more unanswered goals over the next couple minutes to re-take the lead.

However, junior Brent Nichter (Ft. Wayne, IN/Bishop Luers) responded with his third goal of the day to tie the game at 10 with 4:19 on the clock.

Hope came right back a minute later to go ahead 11-10 and looked to put the game away on their next possession, but a huge defensive stand by the Warriors gave them one more chance to tie the game.

Following a timeout by Tech, junior Craig Schaepkens (Davison, MI/Davison) fired a shot past the Hope goalie to tie the game at the 1:12 mark.

Hope won the ensuing faceoff, but the Tech defense forced the Flying Dutchmen into another turnover giving the Warriors possession with less than a minute to go. Nichter raced down the sideline and behind the cage before he found Puckett for the game-winner just before the final horn.

The trio of Nichter, Puckett, and Schaepkens led the way with three goals apiece and all three added one assist while junior Nicholas Lichtsinn (Ft. Wayne, IN/Snider) chipped in two goals. Freshman Kyle Goehring (Ft. Wayne, IN/Homestead) picked up a team-high nine groundballs and Loftus finished with nine saves on the day.

For more information on Indiana Tech athletics please call the Athletic Office at 260-422-5561 ext. 2262 or visit our website at http://www.indianatech.edu/athletics