EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - - Miles Crouse dished out a single-game program record six assists as the Wilmington University men's lacrosse team inched closer to securing a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Tournament spot with a 24-6 victory at Felician's Riggin Memorial Field on Saturday night.
The Wildcats (4-6, 3-2 CACC) are in fourth place in the CACC with two games remaining in the regular season. They still play Post (4-1 CACC) and Bridgeport (0-6 CACC) while the top five teams in the CACC advance to the CACC Tournament.
Wilmington scored the first five goals of the game, taking a 5-1 lead at the end of the first quarter. Miles Crouse assisted on three of the first four Wildcat goals, finishing with three assists in the first half. TJ Caton scored two of the first quarter goals to lead the offense.
TJ Caton made it a hat trick with the first goal of the second quarter. Giovanni Marino and Josh Lovely got in on the act with the first three goals of the second, giving the Wildcats an 8-1 lead. TJ Caton added to the lead with his fourth goal of the game, sending the Wildcats into the halftime break leading, 9-2.
Felician scored the first two goals of the third, but then the Wildcats responded with a 9-0 run of their own, taking an 18-4 lead with 1:05 left in the quarter. TJ Caton scored back-to-back goals during the run while Josh Lovely and Logan Stinson had two goals each as well.
Jacob Herman started the scoring in the fourth, getting an assist from Miles Crouse, setting the new single-game program record previously held by Herman himself. Crouse later scored back-to-back goals and TJ Caton capped the scoring with his seventh goal of the game, giving the Wildcats the 24-6 edge.
Charlie Plasse went 19-of-27 in the face-off circle while the Wildcats won 22-of-34 overall. That led to a 67-23 shots advantage, and a 50-33 ground ball lead.
TJ Caton finished with seven goals and an assist for eight points while Miles Crouse scored two to add to his six assists for eight points. Logan Stinson and Josh Lovely scored four goals and added an assist each while Jacob Herman went for three goals and two assists. Nick Bruhn led the defense with three caused turnovers while Jaeden Henson scooped up six ground balls.
The makeup game against Post is the final home game of the regular season for the Wildcats, as they take on the Eagles on Wednesday afternoon at the WU Athletics Complex. The opening face-off is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.