NEWARK, Del. - - Looking for a big Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference victory, the Wilmington University men's lacrosse team stormed out of the gates with 10 goals in the first quarter, getting the win, 24-14, over Post on Wednesday at the WU Athletics Complex.
The Wildcats (5-6, 4-2 CACC) needed a win to force a three-way tie for second place with one game remaining. With the 10-goal margin, the Wildcats are now sitting in third place in the CACC, and if things hold as they are today, will advance to the CACC Tournament Semifinals without needing to play the play-in game.
Post (8-5, 4-2 CACC) scored with 4:55 to play in the first, making it 4-2. But then the Wildcats took the game over, scoring the final six goals of the first quarter to open a 10-2 lead after 15 minutes of play. Logan Stinson had five goals in the first quarter while Charlie Plasse went 8-for-12 in the face-off circle, getting the ball back to the offense quickly.
The Eagles tried to come back in the second, scoring the first two goals, but then TJ Caton and Miles Crouse recorded back-to-back goals to push the lead back out to 12-4. The Eagles scored the final goal of the half to send the teams into break with the Wildcats leading 12-5.
After Giovanni Marino and Logan Stinson scored to open the third quarter, Post went on a 6-3 run to close the gap to within 17-11 with 1:50 to play in the quarter. But again the Wildcats had an answer at the end of the quarter, as Giovanni Marino scored a goal sandwiched around a pair from Josh Lovely in the final 1:40 of the frame, taking a 20-11 lead into the final quarter.
The Wildcats put the game out of reach early in the fourth quarter, as Josh Lovely scored back-to-back goals followed by Logan Stinson's eighth goal of the game. Giovanni Marino capped the Wildcats scoring with a goal from Jacob Herman, giving the Wildcats a 24-11 lead with 12:00 to play. The Wildcats were able to waste the clock on offense the rest of the way.
Logan Stinson and Miles Crouse led the Wildcats with 10 points each in the game, doing it in different ways. Logan Stinson scored eight goals while adding two assists and Miles Crouse scored three goals and tied his own single-game program record with seven assists. Josh Lovely scored six goals while adding two assists, and Jacob Herman went for two goals and four assists.
Defensively, TJ Caton led with three caused turnovers and nine ground balls, helping the face-off gain possession repeatedly. Brendan Leonard had two caused turnovers and scooped up seven ground balls.
Charlie Plasse finished 28-for-37 in the circle, as the Wildcats went 30-for-39 overall. Jack Cruz made 10 saves in goal for the Wildcats.
The regular season concludes on Friday for the Wildcats, as Wilmington travels to first-year program Bridgeport. The opening whistle is set for 4:00 p.m.