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NEWARK, Del. - - It took until the fourth quarter for the Wilmington University men's lacrosse team to take the lead for good, but the top-seeded Wildcats narrowly defeated No. 5 Holy Family, 10-9, in the Semifinals of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Tournament on Wednesday afternoon at the WU Athletics Complex.
With the win, the Wildcats move on to the CACC Championship game for the third season in a row, looking for their first title in program history. Second-seeded Chestnut Hill won the other semifinal match on Wednesday night, setting a championship between the top two seeds on Saturday at the WU Athletics Complex.
On Wednesday, the Wildcats led, 2-1, before Holy Family tied the game, 2-2, with 5:21 left in the first quarter. The Wildcats wouldn't lead again until the fourth quarter. Brian McGarvey took the opening faceoff and scored just six seconds into the contest to get the postseason off and running. But Holy Family scored the final two goals of the first quarter, including a sweeping shot off the ground in the final two seconds to take a 3-2 lead.
The teams traded the opening three goals, with Kyle Parker and Andrew Dzubak tying the game, 3-3 and 4-4, respectively. But again, the Tigers scored the final two goals of the second quarter, including one inside five seconds again to take a 6-4 lead at the halftime break.
Max Runcer and Ian Betts scored in the opening five minutes of the third quarter, as Betts' ripper tied the game, 6-6, with 10:35 to play in the frame. The Tigers' Noah Simpson again gave the visitors the lead with a late goal, as the Tigers took a 7-6 lead into the fourth quarter.
The fourth quarter belonged to Carter Earl, as he scored the first two goals, giving the Wildcats their first lead since the first quarter, 8-7, with 9:37 to play. Holy Family quickly tied 50 seconds later, but then Carter Barrie scored off a feed from Carter Earl moments into a man-advantage, regaining a 9-8 lead with 7:40 to play. Domanik West then charge down the right slot and found the back of the net with 10-8 to play.
Holy Family got to within one with 5:27 to play, but then Daniel Flynn stopped Noah Simpson with 2:05 to play, the final shot that the Tigers would get off. The Tigers had possession in the final 15 seconds, but an offsides call caused a turnover as the Wildcats ran out the clock.
The Wildcats used nine different goal scorers in the win as Carter Earl was the only Wildcat with multiple tallies, finishing with two goals and an assist. Santiago Figueroa and Max Runcer had a goal and an assist each. Quinn Tracy and Julian Businsky had four caused turnovers each while Businsky and Tyler Quinn led with six ground balls each.
The Wildcats won the faceoff battle, 16-6, as Brian McGarvey went 14-for-20 and Connor Widmer went 2-for-2. Daniel Flynn made seven saves in the victory.
The Wildcats are 0-4 in CACC Tournament Championship games, advancing to the CACC Tournament in all eight years of their existence. Saturday's Championship is set for 11:00 am at the WU Athletics Complex.
