Liam McCann scored two late goals and Austin Jones made several spectacular fourth quarter saves as the chestnut Hill college Men's Lacrosse team captured their second straight Central Atlantic Collegiate conference championship with a 13-12 win over nationally ranked Wilmington University Saturday at Georgian court University in Lakewood, New Jersey.

The Griffins improve to 11-6 overall, equaling the school record for wins in a single season (2019 team went 11-5).  Chestnut Hill, who has played in every conference championship game since men's lacrosse was established as a conference sport in 2018 is now 2-2 in conference championship games.  Wilmington, ranked #18 in the most recent USILA poll finishes the season at 11-4.

Jones (Courtice, Ontario) who recorded 14 saves on the day, including two back to-back saves on shots within 5 feet of the goal within 20 seconds of each other late in the fourth quarter was named the CACC Tournament Most Valuable Player.  In earing the win, he tied his own school record with 11 wins on the season.  His season total of 184 is just one shy of Dakota Maurer's single season mark of 185 set in 2011.

McCann's (Edmonton, Alberta) two late goals broke an 11-11 tie and gave the Griffins the lead for good in the fourth quarter.   The freshman attack finished with four goals on the afternoon, giving him 49 for the season, one shy of the school record 50 set by Michael Melnychenko in 2011 and equaled by Carson Rees in 2019.

Maurice Kelly (Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta), with solid performances in the semi-finals and championship match, eclipsed Rees' single season points mark of 66 set in 2019. The senior attack had three goals and five assists in the two post-season contests to give him 70 total points for the season.  Kelly also tied J.R. Howell's (East Meadow, N.Y.) single season assist mark of 34 with an assist in Saturday's championship.  He also had a man-up goal late in the third period.

Billy DiMaio (Holmdel, N.J.) recorded a hat trick against the Wildcats and added an assist for four points.  His third goal with 6:42 in the third period was a behind the back shot following a great pass from Kelly that tied the game at 9-9 with 6:42 in the period.

DiMaio, McCann, Revak and Howell joined Jones on the All-Tournament team.

Zach Schultz (Selbyville, Del.) led the team with seven ground balls while Dan Grubb (Quakertown, Pa.) had two caused turnovers.

Both offenses battled throughout with neither team letting the other get too far ahead.  Wilmington's biggest lead was three at 7-4 late in the second quarter only to have their momentum slowed by DiMaio's second goal of the game with just 36 seconds left in the half.  The Griffins' biggest lead was at 13-11 following the two fourth quarter goals by McCann.  There were seen ties throughout the contest.

The Griffins won the first quarter with goals from McCann, Chase Snyder (Millsboro, Del.) and DiMaio to take an early 3-2 lead.  The two teams exchanged goals early before the Wildcats tallied four unanswered scores to take a 7-4 lead late in the quarter before DiMaio's goal in the final minute.

Chestnut Hill scored five times in the third quarter, battling back to tie the score at 10-10.  McCann had his second of the game at 8:54,  followed by a quick goal from Tommy Austin (Bethlehem, Pa.) 11 seconds later after Schultz won the faceoff.  Wilmington added a goal less than 30 seconds after Austin to go back up by two before Revak again brought the Griffins within one with an unassisted goal at the 7:51 mark, capping a sequence that saw the Griffins score three goals in 63 second and four total goals between both teams in the same amount of time.

Howell had a man-up goal 40 seconds into the final period to give the Griffins their first lead since early in the second quarter.   Wilmington's Logan Stinson knotted the score up at 11-11 at the 12:50 mark before McCann's two goals put the Griffins ahead to stay.  Stinson added a goal with 1:33 left to pull the wildcats within one but Jones and Griffin defense held firm to ensure the victory.