PAINESVILLE, Ohio -- The Lake Erie men's lacrosse team hosted Walsh in a 2025 G-MAC Semifinals game, with the visiting Cavaliers emerging victorious by a score of 10-8. Tightly contested the whole way, the Storm trailed by three goals with 10 minutes remaining before mounting a comeback that brought them within one in the closing minutes. However, fate favored the Cavaliers, as Walsh added a late goal to solidify the win and advance to the G-MAC Championship against nationally ranked Seton Hill, a consensus top-five team in Division II.

For Lake Erie, the loss wraps up another strong season, finishing 7-7 overall and 7-2 in regular season conference play. It also continues their streak of reaching—but falling in—the conference semifinals, a pattern that has held since joining the G-MAC in 2016.*

Game Recap

The first period was a defensive classic from both sides, and going into the final minute, it appeared that for the first time since the 2017 season, the Storm would end the first 15 minutes in a scoreless ballgame. However, Walsh had other ideas, scoring with 53 seconds remaining to put themselves on top 1-0 as the second period rolled around. Goalkeeper Gavin Conlan had four impressive saves in the period, while the whole team collectively was active in rallying to groundballs, outpacing Walsh 12-8 during this time.

Andrew Cramer got his team on the board after four minutes passed in period two, briefly tying the game, but four-straight Cavalier goals spanning just three minutes ripped the game apart and felt  like we were headed towards their regular season smack-down, where Walsh led 9-0 at halftime in an eventual 15-4 win. The Storm quickly shut that thought-process down, as Joey Ellison ripped off two consecutive goals in the winding minutes to keep his team in a competitive 5-3 deficit at halftime.

Period three began with the Cavaliers scoring twice to regain a four-score lead, yet Robert Weil and Joey Ellison managed two of their own, put the pressure back on Walsh to retain their 7-5 advantage. The Cavs would respond with a goal, but Billy Coughlin answered the bell, scoring his 15th goal of the season to put the score at 8-6 as the rowdy teams and fans alike couldn't wait for the final period to begin. 

After Walsh scored their ninth goal of the night with 10 minutes remaining, putting them up by three, it would have been easy to sense defeat and get emotional on the conclusion of the season, but not this Lake Erie team. The competitive spirit they showed all year was intense, and this match was far from over, as both Tim Woods and Zephaniah Scott found the back of the net in the six-minute mark to cut their deficit to just one score. Despite the Storm momentum, the Cavaliers battled tough and stopped Lake Erie's final three possessions, adding a score of their own and burning the remaining clock, helping them walk out with a well-earned win. 

Player Notes

• Lake Erie's season goal leader Joey Ellison delivered another hat trick, his sixth of the year and a huge showing in the playoff spotlight. After missing the 2024 season, the graduate student returned in a big way, scoring nine more goals than anyone else on the team and posting a team-best 36.5% shot percentage.**

• Billy Coughlin added a goal and the team's only assist of the night, finishing the year with 15 goals and 15 assists—an exclusive feat matched by only one player in the past four seasons (by Dawson Kindall in both 2023 and 2024).

• Lasse Litfin led the team with eight groundballs and finished sixth in the G-MAC in both total groundballs (54) and groundballs per game (3.86). He also forced four turnovers, tying his best mark this year in his freshman campaign.

• Nicolas Shankland led the team this season with 25 forced turnovers, which tied for fourth-most in the conference.

• Noah Beckett and Joshua Hegbe each won two face-offs on the night.

• Gavin Conlan saved nine shots in the game, ending the season with 157 saves—right in the middle of the conference rankings. He also picked up a career-high seven groundballs.

Team Notes

• The biggest difference-maker was face-offs, where Walsh dominated 18 of 22 opportunities, creating a massive possession gap. This has been a consistent issue for the Storm, who won just 90 of 299 face-offs this season (30.1%), nearly identical to last year's 29.6%.

• Despite the face-off disparity, Lake Erie took more shots (39-24), had more shots on goal (21-19), and committed fewer turnovers (24-28).

• However, they also had five more failed clears and collected seven fewer groundballs than Walsh.

• The Cavaliers also converted two of three extra-man chances, while the Storm went 0-for-2.

The Matchup

Historically, Lake Erie had dominated the series with Walsh, entering this season 12-1 since their first meeting in 2010. With two wins in 2025, the Cavaliers have now improved that mark to 12-3.



* Only exception being 2020 when the season was canceled midway through and no G-MAC games were held.
**Nicolas Shankland's one goal on two shots technically marks a higher shot percentage, but the sample size isn't enough to take it away from Ellison.