Pride fall to Carroll in return to non-conference play

DUBUQUE, Iowa - Getting back to action on their home field following a weather induced postponement, the Clarke University men's lacrosse team dropped a non-conference matchup to Carroll University 15-10 on Thursday night at Burrows Field.

The visitors got off to a strong start on the scoreboard, jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the first quarter capped off by back-to-back goals scored 21 seconds apart to make it 3-0 before Theo Deberghes got Clarke on the board with a long shot from the defensive end in on an open net from about 80 yards away.

That tally for the Pride allowed them to carry a little bit of that scoring momentum into the second where they outscored Carroll 3-2 behind three goals from freshman Tyler Fleming as they entered halftime down a goal at 5-4, but Fleming tied the game just 31 seconds into the second half to make it 5-5 early in the third.

Unfortunately for Clarke, the Pioneers outscored the home team 6-2 over the remaining 14:29 of the third quarter to get to a five-goal lead at 11-7 before Deberghes beat the buzzer with a lacrosse version of a half-court heave, this being a rocket of a shot from the midfield stripe that found the back of the net and put the score at 11-7 with 15 minutes to go.

Carroll scored the first two goals of the fourth and every time the Pride attempted to mount a comeback with goals from Matt Warmowski, Xavier Howard, and one final strike from Reese Rubino, the next goal was either scored by the Pioneers or no more goals were scored in the game.

Deberghen, playing long-stick midfielder for Clarke, finished with those two goals along with tying for the team lead in caused turnovers and led the game with 11 ground balls collected while Kaden Pemberton had a strong game on defense as well with an assist, five caused turnovers and four ground balls of his own.

Fleming's four goals led the game as he was joined on the scoresheet as a multi-point scorer by Deberghes, Howard (one goal, one assist), Jackson Michaels (one goal, two assists), and Aiden Gudenkauf (two assists), while Rubino, Warmowski, Pemberton, and Ethan Cornett all had either a goal or an assist by the end of the game.

In net, both team's goalies made 11 saves while facing over 20 shots on goal against, but Jonas Malmanger of Carroll produced a stronger save percentage than Clarke's Jack Fritz to help carry his team to victory.

Clarke men's lacrosse will make up their game from this past Tuesday against Marian University (WI), but will plan to head to Fon du Lac, Wis. on Saturday, Mar. 14 for a 4:00 p.m. CT scheduled opening faceoff between the Pride and Sabres.