QUINCY, Ill. - The Quincy University men's lacrosse team got the best of the Panthers of Davenport in a tight 15-14 match for its first victory of the season on Saturday (Feb. 8) at QU Stadium. 

Haakon Steen, Jameson Essen and Mason Luoma led the Hawks in scoring, netting 12 of QU's 15 goals good for four apiece as Steen and Luoma added five points in the Hawks' first victory over DU. 

Quincy opened the contest with three-straight goals, getting a pair of scores from Steen followed up by a Luoma goal to put QU ahead 3-0 at the 11:18 mark of the first. Following a Panthers goal, Essen netted his first of the contest to press the edge to 4-1. A pair of DU goals tailed by another from Luoma in the closing minute of the quarter found the Hawks ahead 5-3 after one. 

The Panthers turned up the pressure in the second quarter, finding the back of the net five times in the first six minutes and change to leap out in front 8-5 before goals from Steen and Eli Cowan in the closing minutes drew Quincy within one, trailing 7-8 at the half. 

Essen evened the tally at 8-8 with the first goal of the second half on a feed from Caidyn Prediger as Quincy managed another score just a minute later, Luoma's third of the night, before going quiet the rest of the frame to head into the final 15 minutes trailing 9-10. 

Caleb Hensley knotted the score at 10-10 with an unassisted score at the 12:04 mark before the Panthers responded with a pair of goals to regain the advantage 12-10 with a little over 10 minutes left on the clock .

Quincy formulated a two-score response from Essen and Steen to lock the count at 12-12. Davenport scored again a minute later to press ahead 13-12, prompting a pair of Hawks's goals from Hensley and Essen both from Prediger, to take a 14-13 lead with 3:25 to play. 

The Panthers scored the equalizer with just over three minutes to play, setting the stage for a Luoma goal in the closing seconds to propel his side to a hard-fought 15-14 winner over Davenport. 

With the win, the Hawks not only defeat DU for the first time, but also pick up the first win with the program for new Head Coach, Jake Acevedo. 

Stats Leaders: 
4 Goals - Steen, Essen, Luoma
5 Points - Steen, Luoma
4 Assists - Prediger
3 Caused Turnovers - Colin Usher
2 FO Wins - O, Nock, Betts
9 Saves - Zach Anderson

Next Up 

The Hawks stick to the home cooking for their next contest, hosting Northwood University for a 5:00 PM match at QU Stadium on Tuesday (Feb. 11).