Box Score Lakewood, N.J. - Georgian Court University continues to reign supreme in the CACC as the #2-seed Lions outlasted #1 Chestnut Hill College Saturday afternoon to lay claim to its second-straight title in Saturday's Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Men's Lacrosse Championship Tournament finale.
Hosted by GCU, the Lions held off the Griffins, 11-10, to remain the only conference champion since men's lacrosse became a CACC sport prior to the 2018 campaign. Georgian Court also bested Chestnut Hill in last year's final (4/29/18) when the Lions took down CHC, 9-7.
In a closely-contested affair throughout, the two foes opened the match tied 2-2 after the initial first period of play. Georgian Court proceeded to double up the Griffins by a 4-2 count in the second frame to carry a slight 6-4 surplus into the halftime break.
An unassisted tally from
Brandon Razler (two goals, three assists)
2:29 into the third stanza pushed the Lions' lead to 7-4 before Chestnut Hill countered with fifth unanswered to go ahead by a pair (9-7) with 14:08 remaining in regulation. Head Coach
Mickey Hover and his squad kept calm and made the necessary adjustments in a hurry as the Lions launched a 4-0 fourth-quarter flurry to push ahead, 11-9, with just 2:37 to go.
Carson Rees (Port Coquitlam, British Columbia) provided an anxious moment for the Lions as the sophomore's game-high fifth goal inched Chestnut Hill to within just one with just 48 seconds remaining on the clock. The Griffins (11-5) could not muster up the equalizer, however, as CHC came up short to the Lions for the second consecutive season.
Devin Bell made the most of his opportunity in the win as the freshman poured in a team-best four goals for the Lions.
Tanner Lee contributed a pair of tallies and two helpers for the victors.
Erick Santamaria and
Ryder Verdoni each scooped six ground balls apiece for the royal and gold.
CACC Player of the Year,
Austin Geissel, added Tournament MVP to his already-stellar resume as the junior net-minder turned away a flurry of Chestnut Hill shots (24 saves) in the complete-game win. The aforementioned Bell. Lee, Razler and Santamaria also earned selection to the All-Tournament squad.
Georgian Court closes out the 2019 campaign with an overall record of 10-8.
