LYNDHURST, N.J. - - A big second half helped lead the Wilmington University men's lacrosse team to a 17-6 victory over Felician in the regular season finale, locking up the No. 3 seed in the upcoming Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Tournament next week.
The Wildcats (8-6, 3-2 CACC) secured the No. 3 seed for the CACC Tournament and will lay No. 2 and host Georgian Court in the second semifinal on Thursday afternoon in Lakewood, N.J.
But Saturday came with a slow start for the Wildcats, as they found themselves down, 3-2, to Felician (0-13, 0-5) after the first quarter. The second quarter started quickly for the Wildcats however, as Anton Mackey won the opening face-off and took it right to goal, dishing it off to Austin Wood for to tie the game, 3-3, just 10 seconds into the frame.
Dylan McCleaft made it back-to-back goals before Jake Walsh added a man-up goal to put the Wildcats up 5-3 with 7:33 left in the half. Felician's Anthony Hanratty broke up the three straight by the Wildcats with a goal, but the visitors answered with back-to-back goals to end the half, going into the break with a 7-4 lead.
From there, it was all Wilmington, as they outscored the Golden Falcons, 6-0 in the third quarter, and scored nine straight in the second half before Felician scored again with 6:34 left in regulation. Chris Smith scored three times in the third quarter while Anton Mackey, Austin Wood, and Dylan McCleaft added single goals as well.
Back-to-back goals from Dylan McCleaft early in the fourth quarter gave the Wildcats a 16-4 lead with 12:57 to play before Austin Wood capped the scoring with a goal with 4:15 to play.
McCleaft led the Wildcats with six goals and an assist, and finished the regular season as the CACC leader in goals (53) and points (66). Chris Smith finished with five goals while Austin Wood tacked on three goals and two assists.
Jake Mollohan led the defense with four caused turnovers while Zach Pancake added three caused turnovers and three ground balls. Wood led the team with six ground balls while McCleaft added five. Smith had four ground balls while Noach Brock chipped in with three.
Noah Given made six saves in three quarters for the Wildcats while Nick Race came in and made three saves in the fourth quarter.
Continue to tune into athletics.wilmu.edu for all the information regarding the 2019 CACC Men's Lacrosse Championship starting next Thursday.