The #5 Aquinas men's lacrosse team squared up with #2 Indiana Tech for an NAIA top-5 battle on Wednesday (Mar. 30) in Fort Wayne. The Saints and Warriors went back and forth, but in the end the Saints were unable to pull off the upset, falling 11-7. At the conclusion of this game Aquinas falls to 3-3 on the season, while Indiana Tech rises to 6-1. 
 
In the first quarter, Indiana Tech drew first blood by scoring at the 12:46 mark and would score again at 5:26 to put Aquinas in a 2-0 hole. Zachary Sweet started the Saints with an unassisted goal to cut the deficit in half in the closing seconds of the quarter. 
 
In the second stanza, both teams would score twice to keep the game close. Tech would score twice answered by two goals AQ goals from Sweet and Blake Baker.

The third quarter heavily favored Indiana Tech when they scored four goals to Aquinas' one. The Saints lone goal came from Kevin LaHaie when he was assisted by Jack Rioux at 12:01 in the period. 

In the final quarter, the Saints were able to bring the game within two twice. Kyle Gauthier and LaHaie scored at 13:46 and 13:11 to make the score 8-6 before Tech scored at 10:29. Mitch Haggart then tallied the Saints final goal at 7:35. The Warriors would add two more goals in the final six minutes of the game to secure the win. 

In net, Clayton Boerigter allowed 11 goals and made 16 saves, while also picking up two ground balls. Defensively, LaHaie picked up eight ground balls to lead the team as Lou Nageotte also collected six, while Blake Baker forced a team-high two turnovers.

LaHaie and Sweet paced the Saints with two goals each, while Haggart, Baker, and Gauthier each contributed one 

AQ outshot Tech 41-38, while also picking up more ground balls (53-41) and winning the face off battle (16-5). Tech caused more turnovers (13-7) and had 28/32 clears compared to AQ's 22/30.

Aquinas will travel to Livionia, Michigan on Saturday (April 2) for a matchup against Madonna University. The Saints and Crusaders will do battle at 2:00 PM.