LAKEWOOD, N.J. - - A second-half comeback ran out of steam as the Wilmington University men's lacrosse team fell to Georgian Court, 15-13, in a tight Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference battle on Tuesday afternoon at the GCU Turf Complex.
The Wildcats (2-5, 1-1 CACC) trailed 8-3 at the half, but closed the gap to as few as two in the third quarter, and two once more early in the fourth quarter. But the Lions answered back and led 15-10 with 3:45 left before the Wildcats' last gasp down the stretch, scoring three goals before running out of time.
In the process of the comeback attempt, Giovanni Marino became the second student-athlete in program history to score 100 career goals, needing two coming into the contest to match his team Logan Stinson who reached the milestone on Saturday. His second goal brought the Wildcats to within 13-9 with 6:23 to play in the fourth. Marino now has 100 goals to go with 24 assists for 124 career points.
The Lions (6-5, 2-0 CACC) came out of the gates and scored on their first shot of the game and then scored four of the five goals in the first quarter to lead 4-1. The Lions scored the first two goals of the second quarter as well, taking a 6-1 lead with 13 minutes to play in the first half. TJ Caton and Miles Crouse scored back-to-back goals to get to within 6-3, but then the Lions scored two goals in 36 seconds to take an 8-3 lead into the break.
Out of the break, Josh Lovely and Logan Stinson scored back-to-back goals and then Lovely and Giovanni Marino went back-to-back later in the quarter to bring the Wildcats to within 9-7. But the Lions had an answer again, scoring the final goal of the quarter with 5:11 to play to lead 10-7, after three quarters.
Carter Trevisan made a stop to start the fourth quarter and after a successful clear, Josh Lovely scored to bring the Wildcats once again to within two, 10-8. Georgian Court stemmed the tide with three consecutive goals, though, taking a 13-8 lead with eight minutes to play. Marino and TJ Caton scored back-to-back goals to get to within 13-10 with 5:28 to play, but the Lions won the ensuing faceoff and scored on their first shot, and then did it again for back-to-back goals to make it 15-10 with 3:45 showing on the clock.
Logan Stinson scooped up a rebound and scored with 3:14 to play, while also drawing a penalty. TJ Caton scored 10 seconds later to give the Wildcats live, 15-12, with 3:04 to play. John Greene forced a turnover and TJ Caton scored again to make it 15-13 with 1:52 to play, but the Lions won the ensuing faceoff and was whittle the clock down to inside 30 seconds.
TJ Caton led the Wildcats with four goals while Logan Stinson scored three goals and added two assists. Josh Lovely scored three goals while Giovanni Marino added two. Jacob Herman dished out three assists. TJ Caton had eight ground balls while Nick Bruhn scooped up six loose balls. Georgian Court won 20 of the 31 face-offs on Tuesday.
The Wildcats have the weekend off and return to action when they face Chestnut Hill on the road next Wednesday night. The opening whistle is set for 7:00 p.m.