ORANGEBURG, N.Y. - - For the third year in a row, the Wilmington University men's lacrosse team will be the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Tournament, defeating Dominican, 19-8, on Saturday afternoon at O'Brien Field.
With the win, the Wildcats are now 9-4 overall and are 7-0 in CACC play with one game remaining. A win in their final game would secure the CACC Regular Season title outright, as Chestnut Hill is a game behind the Wildcats with two games remaining. The Wildcats also hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over Chestnut Hill, meaning the Wildcats will be the No. 1 seed regardless.
The Wildcats used multiple mini runs on Saturday to ultimately take down the Chargers. Dominican closed the gap to 7-5 early in the third, but then the Wildcats outscored the Chargers, 12-3, the rest of the way, including 8-2 in the fourth quarter.
Dominican opened the scoring nearly four minutes into the contest, but then the rest of the first quarter scoring was all Wilmington. Andrew Dzubak scored in transition after the defense stopped a clear attempt and then gave the Wildcats the lead with 5:41 to play. Ian Betts took advantage of a Dominican penalty and scored 55 seconds later, as the Wildcats led, 3-1, after one quarter.
After the Chargers scored to make it 4-2, the Wildcats scored three straight to regain control. Josh Weston scored 12 seconds following a Dominican tally and then Andrew Dzubak scored back-to-back goals to make it 7-2 with 4:24 to play before halftime. The Chargers scored the final goal of the half though, making it a 7-3 game.
The Chargers came out and scored the first two goals of the third quarter as well, closing the gap to 7-5. But the Wildcats had an answer again, scoring three straight. Carter Earl scored a pair sandwiched around a man-up goal by Carter Barrie, giving the Wildcats a 10-5 lead. Andrew Dzubak scored the final goal of the third to give the Wildcats an 11-6 lead.
Ian Betts and Josh Lovely scored back-to-back goal to start the fourth, taking a 13-6 lead. The Chargers scored, but the Wildcats squashed any thought of a comeback. They answered with six straight goals, getting two from Domanik West and two from Josh Weston in the run. Collin Businsky and Kanell Ward also scored to close out the Chargers.
Daniel Flynn recorded a season high 16 saves in the victory for the Wildcats. Andrew Dzubak led the offense with five goals and an assist while Carter Earl had two goals and four assists. Josh Weston recorded a hat trick with three goals while Ian Betts and Domanik West added multiple goals as well.
The faceoff team won 21 out of 30 face-offs on Saturday, with Aidan Vicidomini going 6-for-8, Connor Widmer going 7-for-10, and Brian McGarvey going 7-for-11.
Saturday was the 27th consecutive regular season CACC victory for the Wildcats as they now prepare for their regular season finale on Wednesday, April 22. They head to Holy Family with the opening faceoff set for 4:00 p.m.