LISLE, Ill. – The Raiders hit the road to begin their toughest NACC stretch of the season when they traveled to take on Benedictine. The contest was anyone's game heading into the fourth quarter but it was the Eagles scoring one more than the Raiders on Saturday to deal the Red & White their first conference loss.

RESULT
MSOE RAIDERS – 7
Benedictine – 8

HOW IT HAPPENED

• MSOE (8-5, 5-1 NACC) knew they were in for a battle when they took on Benedictine (4-10, 4-2 NACC) and were immediately put to the test with a first quarter that fell 3-1 in the Eagles favor. The Raiders responded with force in the second frame, however. They outscored the home team 3-0 with two goals going to Jake Tralongo and the other being claimed by Dawson Smith.
• The Red & White tried to build on their 4-3 lead by matching Benedictine goal for goal in the third stanza. The two teams went back and forth as Smith made it 5-4 and Tanner Whipps netted a man up goal to put MSOE up by two.
• The game took an unfortunate turn though. The Eagles were able to string together three straight goals, and though Whipps was able to tie things at 7-7 with his second strike of the game, BU took the lead for good with a goal with 5:09 left in the game.
• MSOE held the advantage in faceoffs, ground balls, and clearing attempts but couldn't find the equalizer in a one goal loss for their first NACC defeat of the season.

RAIDER REMARKS

• The Raiders were not able to replicate their thrilling win from last season against the Eagles at home and now fall to 2-8 in the all time series.
• The game was about as even as you could get with each team taking 36 shots, 22 of which was on target for both the Raiders and Eagles.

MSOE STAT TRACKER
Goals – Three with two
Assists – Sam Thompson (1)
Ground Balls – John Kubicki (10)
Caused Turnovers – Sam Thompson (2)
Saves – Thomas Miles (14)   

WHO'S ON DECK
The Raiders next game will carry major seeding implications for the NACC tournament. With each team tied at 5-1, MSOE and CUW will battle it out on Viets Field starting at 7:00 pm on Wednesday.

For up-to-the-minute MSOE Raiders news, visit us at MSOERaiders.com. You can also follow the Red & White on Twitter @MSOE_Raiders and @msoe_raiders on Instagram.