LAKEWOOD, N.J. - - Chestnut Hill claimed its second straight Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Tournament Championship on Saturday, defeating Wilmington, 13-12, at the Georgian Court Track and Field Complex.
The Wildcats will now wait to hear their name be called during the NCAA Division II Men's Lacrosse Selection Show on Sunday, May 8 at 7:30 p.m. on NCAA.com. Six at-large picks will be made to play in the NCAA North Regional Tournament.
The Wildcats (11-4) led 7-5 at the halftime break after scoring four straight in the second quarter to take a 7-4 lead. Jake Copio scored the first goal of the third quarter to give the Wildcats their largest lead of the game, 8-5, with 13:26 left in the third quarter.
Chestnut Hill began its comeback with a goal with 8:54 left in the third quarter, scoring four of the next five goals to tie the game, 9-9, with 6:42 to play. Giovanni Marino scored his lone goal of the game with 5:03 to play in the quarter to give the Wildcats the lead once again, 10-9. But the Griffins scored the final goal of the third, sending the game into the final quarter locked at 10-10.
The Griffins scored the first goal of the fourth quarter with 14:20 showing on the clock and then Logan Stinson scored off a feed from TJ Caton with 12:50 to play to tie the game again, 11-11. Liam McCann scored the next two goals of the game for the Griffins though, first with 11:47 to play and at 8:46 to make it 13-11.
The Wildcats were gifted two extra-man opportunities after the Griffins went ahead 13-11, but they were unable to score on either chance. Each of the Wildcats' shots on the man-advantage was saved by Austin Jones, the last with 4:16 to play.
The Wildcats gave themselves a shot with 1:33 to play, as Logan Stinson scooped up a failed clear attempt by Chestnut Hill and eventually scored to bring the 'Cats to within 13-12. Tucker Plasse won the ensuing face-off but the Wildcats' first shot out of a timeout was saved while the next was high and off the mark.
The Wildcats had one more chance late, as they forced a turnover deep in their own zone. They moved the ball up the field but Giovanni Marino bobbled a pass and lost his footing and could never get a clear cut shot off as the buzzer sounded for the Championship.
Logan Stinson led the Wildcats with four goals on five shots while TJ Caton scored two goals and added two assists. Jake Copio scored two goals and added an assist while Keeshawn Bell scored two goals as well. Jason Roland made 13 saves in goal for the Wildcats.
The Griffins won their third CACC Championship in any sport on Saturday, back-to-back men's lacrosse championships and a men's tennis championship.