Lafayette Hill, Pa. – (5/6/2021) – #1 Chestnut Hill College scored 21 unanswered goals, holding a shutout until the opening minutes of the fourth quarter (21-1, 11:56). Eventually, the Griffins eliminated #5 Dominican College from the 2021 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Men's Lacrosse Championship Tournament by a 25-4 measure. The Scarlet and Gold's semifinal overrun included five points or more from senior attack Carson Rees (Port Coquitlam, B.C.) (3 goals, 5 assists), senior midfielder Ben Revak (Aston, Pa.) (4 goals, 3 assists), and sophomore attack Nate Matthews (Rancho Murieta, Calif.) (5 goals).
Today's CACC Semifinal remained scoreless through the opening seven minutes as Chestnut Hill College (9-2) and Dominican College (4-5) squared off. The Griffins delivered the first blow at 7:20, when Matthews scored the first of three unassisted Scarlet and Gold scores, 1-0. The next two came courtesy of Revak (6:43, 1:32), and they were followed by another Matthews score; this one beat the buzzer and ensured Chestnut Hill College a 4-0 (0:03) first-quarter lead.
The Griffins continued to execute their offense in the second quarter, extending their advantage to 14-0 by halftime, and 20-0 by the end of the third quarter. Sophomore midfielder Mike Smith (Center Valley, Pa.) made it a 21-point deficit when he scored the first goal of the final frame at 13:37, 21-0. The Chargers broke the shutout two minutes later, 21-1 (11:56), and scored three of the last four goals, but the effort was too little too late in an eventual 25-4 final.
Four Chargers each contributed one goal to the Dominican College final total; freshman midfielder Kyle Benedetto (Wantagh, N.Y.) offered the most well-rounded performance of the group with three ground balls. Sophomore attack Luke Martini (Abington, Mass.) supported him with a team-high 11 shots and two ground balls. Junior defenseman Bryan O'Loughlin (Nanuet, N.Y.) provided six ground balls and two caused turnover, while freshman Patrick Gifford (Galloway, N.J.) was Chargers' goalkeeper of record (2-2) with eight saves in the first half (30:00).
Rees surpassed 200 career points with his second goal of the contest (14-0, 0:50). He finished with eight points in all, totaling three goals and five assists to go along with a caused turnover. Revak totaled seven points with four goals and three assists, while Matthews' five goals came with two ground balls and two caused turnovers. The Chestnut Hill College defense was led by freshman Kyle Gartenmayer (Holland, Pa.) who recorded four ground balls and three caused turnovers. Graduate Zachary Ornstein (Howell, N.J.) was 18-of-28 (.643) on the faceoff, while contributing an assist and recovering 17 ground balls. In goal, junior Jake Miller (Castle Rock, Colo.) earned the win (8-2) with eight saves and a ground ball in the opening 39:22.
Chestnut Hill College will host #2 Wilmington University for the CACC Championship on Saturday, May 8. The contest is scheduled for a 12:00 p.m. opening faceoff.
