Jackets Tame Bears

The Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket Men's Lacrosse Team faced off against the California Golden Bears on Monday in the first round of the MCLA National Tournament.   The game was a rematch of the Jackets' first loss of the season when they traveled to Berkely to play the Bears.  The Jackets came out hot scoring the first four goals of the game led by senior Asher Wagnon who scored the first goal and assisted the next three.   The Golden Bears opened their scoring about halfway through the first quarter.  Both teams were scoreless through the second half of the quarter outside of a left handed sweep from Nick Eliacin who was playing in his first game back after missing two months with a broken hand.

The teams traded goals through the majority of the second quarter before the Bears scored two goals in the final 90 seconds of the half to bring the halftime score to 8-6 in favor of the Jackets.  The Bears entered the game with a strong faceoff unit, but Ben Skopicki was up to the challenge and won 19 of 31 faceoffs for the day. 

In the third quarter the Jackets kept nosing their way in front only for the Bears to fight their way back.  The Jackets went up by two goals three times in quarter with the Bears tying the game twice.  The Jackets entered the fourth quarter with a 12-10 lead.

The Bears scored two goals within ten seconds to tie the game, but the Jackets were undeterred, re-taking the lead less than two minutes later.  Nick Eliacin scored on a beautiful individual effort for his second goal of the day before Joseph Rose scored after a series of surgical ball movements for the Jackets.  The Bears would score twice to tie the game again, but  Pierce Quarles responded by scoring the eventual game winner with 6:46 left in the fourth quarter.  The Jacket defense locked in for the final stretch of the game.  Tech turned away numerous scoring opportunities for the Bears including a two-men down situation.  The game ended with the Bears trying to take a desperation shot as the clock expired, but the Jackets prevailed 15-14.  The Jackets will advance to the Utah Valley University Wolverines in a game between two teams playing for the fourth time since 2020.  The game will be at 7:45 CDT on Tuesday May 7 in Round Rock Texas.