SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - - A six-goal second quarter guided the Wilmington University men's lacrosse team to a 17-14 nonconference victory over nationally ranked No. 12 St. Anselm on Wednesday afternoon at Stagg Field on the campus of Spring College.
It is the first win over a ranked opponent in program history. The Wildcats are receiving votes in this week's USILA Division II National Poll with 12 points, while Saint Anselm earned 229 points to sit in 12th overall. The Hawks are the fourth nationally ranked team the Wildcats have played this season.
The Wildcats (5-3) were led by Giovanni Marino who broke a program record with nine goals on Wednesday. He added an assist as well, recording a program second best 10 points. Jacob Herman was dishing out all the assists on the goals, accumulating a program record five assists in the game.
The Wildcats started out hot, scoring the game's first four goals and led 4-0 with 8:42 to play in the first quarter. But the Hawks (3-3) fought back and tied the game, 4-4, with 23 second left to end the first quarter all square.
Miles Crouse started a 5-0 run for the Wildcats to start the second quarter as Giovanni Marino and Logan Stinson traded the next four goals to put the Wildcats up, 9-4, with 8:05 to play in the half. After the Hawks answered with three goals, Logan Stinson sent the Wildcats into the half with a 10-7 lead with a goal with 30 second left.
The Wildcats won the third quarter, 4-3, as well, as back-to-back goals from Marino put the Wildcats up 13-9 with 6:08 to play. Giovanni Marino's eighth goal with 19 second left put the Wildcats ahead, 14-10, with only 15 minutes to play.
Saint Anselm scored three straight to close to with 15-13 with 5:03 to play, but Jake Copio ended the run with a man-advantage goal with 3:44 showing on the clock. Saint Anselm scored again to get within two, but Marino's record-breaking goal came with 10 seconds left in the game, securing the victory, 17-14.
Logan Stinson added four goals and three assists while Jacob Herman finished with a goal and five assists. Connor Graser caused three turnovers and scooped up a ground ball while Nick Bruhn added two caused turnovers and four ground balls. Jaeden Henson added three caused turnovers on the defensive side as well. Tucker Plasse went 16-for-29 in face-offs for the Wildcats.
Jason Roland made 13 stops in goal, including five in the first quarter. He also had five ground balls in the game.
The Wildcats return home for their next two contests, starting with Georgian Court on Saturday afternoon. The CACC contest is slated for a 1:00 p.m. start at the WU Athletics Complex.
