Top-Two Seeds Victorious in Semis of 2024 CACC MLAX Championship
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (May 1, 2024) -- The top-two seeds in the 2024 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Men's Lacrosse Championship -- No. 1 Wilmington University and No. 2 Chestnut Hill College -- were victorious Wednesday in the semifinals of the tournament and will now square off Sunday in the league final at Dominican University in Orangeburg, N.Y.
WilmU and CHC will be meeting in the conference final for the third time in the last four years, while the Wildcats will be seeking their first conference crown and CHC will be aiming for its fourth-consecutive title.
WU defeated fourth-seeded Post University, 15-11, in Wilmington on Wednesday and in the night cap in Philadelphia in a rematch of last year's thrilling CACC final, the Griffins took down third-seeded Georgian Court University, 12-5.
NO. 1 WILMINGTON 15, NO. 4 POST 11 | Boxscore
Jacob Herman posted five goals and an assist while player of the year Logan Stinson chipped in with a trio of markers to spark WilmU's offensive attack in the win. The Wildcats scored five of the game's first six salvos and capped the first half on a 5-0 run to take an 11-3 lead into halftime. Five different WilmU players scored during the half's closing sure and Miles Crouse contributed with one of those strikes while assisting on another.
WilmU held a 12-4 lead early in the third quarter, but Post tried to rally and scored seven of the final 10 goals of the game to come up just short in a comeback bid. Robbie McGrayne scored twice and assisted on another marker for Post and Dylan Heald popped in a pair in the rally. Ryan Denike also had a goal in the run for the Eagles and led the team with three markers on the day.
Daniel Flynn brushed aside 13 shots to earn the win in goal for the Wildcats.
NO. 2 CHESTNUT HILL 12, NO. 3 GEORGIAN COURT 5 | Boxscore
Cade Johnson scored five times and Jake Ballerini totaled four points on a goal and three assists to lead CHC in the win over the Lions. The Griffins raced out to a 6-1 lead after a quarter and never looked back as they have now advanced to each of the first-six CACC Championship Finals in the sport (3-2 overall). Johnson, Sam Slater and Noah Hammon each took turns pumping in goals to give CHC the five-goal lead after one.
Georgian Court outshot Chestnut Hill, 42-35, but Julius Sorino was more than up to the task as he stopped 16 of 21 shots faced to earn the win. Sorino stood tall in the third quarter as GCU tried to rally, but seven saves in the stanza made CHC's early barrage of goals stand up. His counterpart, Vincent Burkhart, made 12 saves in the setback.
Millan Webster scored a team-best three goals for GCU in the setback.
ABOUT THE CACC
The Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference is an NCAA Division II Conference composed of 12 institutions in Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. The member institutions are Bloomfield College, University of Bridgeport, Caldwell University, Chestnut Hill College, Dominican (N.Y.) University, Felician University, Georgian Court University, Goldey-Beacom College, Holy Family University, Post University, Thomas Jefferson University, and Wilmington University.