Video Recap at Bottom of Page
NEWARK, Del. - - In a battle for positioning atop the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference standings, the Wilmington University men's lacrosse obtained a firm grasp on the league, defeating Georgian Court, 17-14, on Saturday afternoon at the WU Athletics Complex.
The win keeps the Wildcats undefeated in CACC play, moving to 6-0 with only two games to play. They also extended their overall win streak to five straight, moving to 7-3 on the year.
On Saturday, a 6-0 run by the Wildcats, spanning the second and third quarters, turned a 6-5 deficit into an 11-6 lead. The Lions (8-6, 5-2 CACC) made a game of it late, getting to as close as to within two goals in the fourth quarter, but the Wildcats were able to hold them off for the victory.
The Wildcats scored three straight in the first quarter to open a 4-2 lead. TJ Caton, Miles Crouse, and Jacob Herman all scored in a row to take a 4-2 lead with 2:05 to play. Georgian Court scored a pair of quick goals to tie the game, but then TJ Caton scored with seven seconds left to give the Wildcats a 5-4 lead after the opening quarter.
Georgian Court took the lead, 6-5, with back-to-back goals to open the second quarter, but then the Wildcats started on their 6-0 run. Jacob Herman scored three of the final four goals in the second quarter, with Josh Weston getting in on the action as well. Herman's fourth goal of the game came with 43 seconds on the clock to give the Wildcats a 9-6 lead at the break.
Layton Avant and Miles Crouse started the scoring in the third quarter, extending the Wildcats' run to 6-0 and the lead out to 11-6. The Lions answered by scored three of the next four goals to close to within 12-9, but then Miles Crouse and Logan Stinson scored, with Stinson just beating the buzzer at the end of the third quarter to take a 14-9 lead into the fourth quarter.
The Lions didn't roll over though, scoring the first three goals of the fourth to close to within 14-12 with 11:42 to play. Miles Crouse then scored on the man advantage with 9:56 to play and then scored right in front off a feed from Herman with 6:49 to play to regain a 16-12 lead. The Lions answered once again with goals with 6:09 and 3:31 to play, again getting to within two goals, 16-14. Both teams hit the post in the final two minutes, with Georgian Court's coming with 52 seconds left. TJ Caton then forced a turnover and took the ball the other way, feeding Stinson for the game sealing goal, 17-14, with 35 seconds left.
Miles Crouse paced the offense with five goals and two assists while Jacob Herman added four goals and an assist. TJ Caton collected two goals and an assist while Logan Stinson added two goals. Gunner Settar and Tyler Quinn led the defensive efforts with three caused turnovers each with Brendan Leonard leading the defenders with four ground balls. Daniel Flynn made 13 saves for the Wildcats, moving to 7-1 on the year.
The Wildcats can clinch the 2024 CACC Regular Season Championship with one more conference win. They will try to get it done on Wednesday at Dominican in the makeup from March 23. The opening face-off is set for 12:00 p.m. at O'Brien Field.
