Lakewood, N.J. - The Lions are the kings of the CACC as Georgian Court University defeated Chestnut Hill College, 9-7, Sunday in the inaugural Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Men's Lacrosse Championship game to the delight of over 400 strong at the GCU Track & Field Complex.

Georgian Court closes out the campaign with a seven-game winning streak (all vs. conference foes) as the #1-seed Lions finish with an 11-6 overall mark. The #3-seed Griffins conclude the year at 7-10.

GCU started strongly by jumping out to a 3-0 advantage over the first 6:40 of action before Chestnut Hill hitched a ride on a wave of momentum and poured in three straight of their own, knotting the score at the 5:55 mark of the first. The Lions would snap an 8:52 scoring slump for both sides when Tanner Lee netted the first of two straight tallies for the sophomore, providing Georgian Court a 5-3 advantage with 11:07 left before intermission.

The Lions looked to carry their two-goal lead into the locker room, but Chestnut Hill's Gerard Lyle had other ideas as he slipped in a Scott Wilden helper with just four seconds remaining before the halftime horn. Wilden proceeded to take matters into his own hands 2:42 into the second stanza when he buried an unassisted effort to knot the showdown at 5-all.

Going at it full-steam, the hard-fighting foes would alternate the next two successful scoring attempts to create a 6-6 stalemate with 2:03 left in the third. The tie would carry into the fourth-and-final frame, which would be uprooted by Brandon Razler 3:28 into the period. A subsequent tally by Patrick Quinn with 8:01 left created the first multi-goal advantage for either team since early in the second.

With GCU now ahead 8-6 as time frantically ticked away, the stage was set for the two CACC Players of the Year to prove to the fans their worthiness of the hardware. The Griffins' Dylan Klusaritz inched Chestnut Hill to within one of the lead after ripping a man-up missile with 5:38 left on the clock. His fellow award-winner, Michael Saladino, had other ideas as the senior comforted the GCU faithful with his fourth goal of the game  (and 44th of the year) with just 1:23 left to seal the crown.

Saladino also distributed three helpers in the win to finish with six points in his final collegiate contest. Lee contributed a hat trick for the victors to go along with a team-high seven ground balls. Connor Houghton and Brandon Razler each cashed in a goal and and assist.

Austin Geissel saved his best for last as the sophomore shot-stopper did just that with his 16 clutch saves over 60:00. The enormous effort earned Geissel the honor of Most Valuable Player for the tournament. Lee, Razler, Saladino and Garven Hadden (3 caused turnovers) joined Austin on the 2018 CACC All-Tournament Team.

The Lions out-shot the Griffins, 41-33, but Chestnut Hill put three more on frame (23-20) than Georgian Court.