Lafayette Hill, Pa. – (4/22/2021) – Chestnut Hill College welcomed Wilmington University to Victory Field #1 for this morning's Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) contest. The affair was competitive early, but a Scarlet and Gold run at the start of the fourth quarter freed up the Griffins for an eventual 12-8 victory. Freshman attack Jackson Melnick (Milford, Pa.) (2 goals, 3 assists), senior midfielder Ben Revak (Aston, Pa.) (2 goals, 2 assists), and sophomore midfielder Mike Smith (Center Valley, Pa.) (2 goals, 2 assists) each recorded at least four points; the first lead the group with five.
Revak scored the first goal of the contest with 13:57 remaining in the first quarter, 1-0. Wilmington University (1-3, 1-1) responded with the next two tallies (13:08, 7:50), but their efforts were soon erased by a four-goal Chestnut Hill College (6-2, 3-0) run that gave the Griffins a 5-2 lead with 7:23 left to play in the first half. The Wildcats managed to sneak a score in before the close of the second frame, trimming the halftime margin to 5-3 (0:25).
After intermission, Wilmington University managed to score before a string of penalties changed the feel of the game, 5-4 (12:59). Unfortunately, they also benefitted from the first transaction as a Wildcat man-up tally knotted the contest at 5-5 with 3:27 remaining in the third quarter. But, a Smith-Melnick man-up connection pushed Chestnut Hill College back ahead less than a minute later (6-5, 2:42). At the start of the final frame, another Wildcat first-strike evened the affair again at 6-6 (14:18). But the stalemate did not last long as the Griffins outscored Wilmington University 6-2 over the final 14 minutes. Smith provided the game-winner off a Melnick pass with 10:38 (9-6) to play and junior defender P.J. Spernal (Jackson, N.J.) added the exclamation point with a ground ball recovery and an unassisted, man-down strike on the Wildcat goal just under five minutes to play, 10-7 (4:54).
Freshman attack Logan Stinson (Lafayette, La.) was the lead Wildcat as he totaled a team-high four points (2 goals, 2 assists), seven ground balls, and a caused turnover. On defense, freshman John Greene (Lewisberry, Pa.) provided four ground balls and three caused turnovers. Junior goalkeeper Noah Given (Middletown, Del.) recorded 13 saves, four ground balls, and a caused turnover in the loss (1-3).
Melnick added a ground ball to his five points. Revak and Smith each finished with two goals and two assists; the former recorded a team-high 10 shots. In the circle, graduate Zachary Ornstein (Howell, N.J.) kept the Griffins in possession off the faceoff with 23 wins in 24 chances (23-of-24, .958) and 17 ground balls. He also recorded a goal with 7:23 (5-2) remaining in the second quarter. In goal, junior Jake Miller (Castle Rock, Colo.) earned the win (5-2) with 16 saves.
Chestnut Hill College head to Dominican College on Saturday, April 24, to continue their CACC schedule with a 1:00 p.m. contest against the Chargers.
