Lakewood, N.J. - (5/2/2019) – For the second straight year, Chestnut Hill College will meet Georgian Court University in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Men's Lacrosse Championship as the top-seeded Griffins retired #4 Dominican College by a 19-11 margin in today's CACC Semifinal contest. Senior attack
Casey Brown (Havre de Grace, Md.) fueled the Scarlet and Gold success with a career-best, 10-point performance that included a career-high six goals and four assists. Various other Griffins got in on the action, including sophomore attack
Carson Rees (Port Coquitlam, British Columbia), who complimented Brown on Chestnut Hill College's front line with five goals and an assist.
CACC SPRING CHAMPIONSHIP FESTIVAL PHOTO GALLERY
Chestnut Hill College (11-4) came out running on all cylinders as Brown and Rees hooked each other up (13:53, 12:44) in the first three minutes, 2-0. A little more than two minutes later (10:30), sophomore attack
J.R. Howell (East Meadow, N.Y.) made it a 3-0 deficit with an unassisted tally and by 7:41 of the first quarter, the Griffins owned a 5-0 advantage over Dominican College (3-12). The Chargers eventually got on the scoreboard with 6:39 remaining in the opening frame, 5-1, and looked to minimize spread by matching Chestnut Hill College to the first-quarter break; 7-3. They managed to do the same in the second quarter, precipitating a 9-5 Griffin halftime lead.
After intermission, Brown continued to frustrate Dominican College as he scored the first goal of the third quarter at 14:18 (10-5), provided additional tallies at 12:36 (11-6) and 8:16 (14-6, man-up), and assisted Howell on a goal at 8:48 (13-6). The Chargers managed to make ground at the tail end of the third quarter and the beginning of the fourth quarter with a four-goal run that spanned the final period break; 14-10 (14:19). Nevertheless, the Scarlet and Gold erased the effort with a 5-1 closing run by that advanced them to the championship with a 19-11 victory.
Four Chargers finished with two goals apiece, three of them also recorded an assist; including freshman attack Luke Martini (Abington, Mass.), who also recovered four ground balls. Junior midfielder Marcos Pierce (Middleburg, Va.) and junior attack Nicholas D'Alessandro (Levittown, N.Y.) were the others. Both recorded a caused turnover; the former additionally recovered two ground balls, while the latter collected three. Junior attack Ryan Fischer (Monroe, N.Y.) was the fourth Charger with two tallies. He led the team with 14 shots and recovered three ground balls. In goal, junior John Rooney (Bellmore, N.Y.) and freshman Patrick Gifford (Galloway, N.J.) split time. Rooney took the loss (1-8) while recording six saves and two ground balls in 22:12 minutes. Gifford played the other 37:48 and recorded five saves.
Brown needed only seven shots to score his six goals. He also recovered two ground balls. Rees recorded his sixth game – and fourth in a row - of five goals or more. He also hustled down three ground balls. Howell finished with five points (3 goals, 2 assists) and a ground ball, while three other Griffins enjoyed multi-point performances. Junior attack
Scott Wilden (Wexford, Pa.) offered two goals and two assists in addition to two ground balls. Senior midfielder
Nick Webber (Westwood, Mass.) scored twice, while sophomore midfielder
Ben Revak (Aston, Pa.) finished with a goal and an assist. Senior midfielder
Troy Ellers (Wantagh, N.Y.) and freshman midfielder
Steele Mylroie (Clyde Hill, Wash.) each provided an assist; the former also collected a ground ball. Senior midfielder
John Bennett (Plymouth Meeting, Pa.) captained the Scarlet and Gold's defensive efforts with six ground balls and a caused turnover, while sophomore
Stephen Lopuzzo (Ringoes, N.J.) controlled the faceoff circle with 16 wins (16-of-27, .593) and nine ground balls. In goal, freshman
Austin Jones (Courtice, Ontario) earned the win (11-3) with 14 saves and a ground ball in the opening 56:24.
Chestnut Hill College returns to Georgian Court University on Saturday, May 4, to face the second-seeded Lions in a 12:00 p.m. CACC Championship contest. For more information about the CACC Spring Championship Festival, please use the preceding link.
