PHILADELPHIA, PA (May 1, 2024) - Georgian Court Men's Lacrosse saw their season come to an end Wednesday night in Philadelphia. Playing in the CACC Semifinal, the No. 3 Lions fell to the No. 2 Chestnut Hill Griffins 12-5. The Lions finish the season 9-8 overall after going 6-2 in the CACC.

How it Happened
• The Lions led in total shots 42-35, but only put half of those on net. The Griffins led in shots on goal 24-21.
• Of the 20 faceoffs in the game, Chestnut Hill won 12 and the Lions eight. 
• Georgian Court struggled early attempting to clear the ball, but cleaned it up later in the game. They finished 18-24. CHC was 22-25 on clear attempts.
• Turnovers were a problem for both teams. The Lions turned it over 15 times and Griffins 17.
• GCU stayed out of the penalty box, but the Griffins killed off two GCU extra-man opportunities. 
First Quarter
• Chestnut Hill came out red hot in the first. They won the first three faceoffs and put Vincent Burkhart under siege in net.
• CHC scored their first less than a minute in then got another after a failed clear.
• After winning another faceoff, the Griffins raced down the field and scored again 33 seconds later to make it 3-0 at the 11:36 mark.
• Georgian Court finally scored nine minutes into the quarter as James Sanford found Millan Webster who beat the goalkeeper for the Lions first tally.
• Less than a minute later, Chestnut Hill found an open attacker in front of the net who buried his shot for a 4-1 lead.
• The Griffins added another and led 5-1 with 2:04 left to play and after a Lion turnover in the final minute, CHC scored with 10 seconds left to lead 6-1 after the first quarter.
Second Quarter
• Scoring way down to start the second. Both goaltenders made saves early on in the quarter.
• The Lions were the first to score in the frame as James Sanford picked up his second point. This time scoring from Brett Bridges' feed at 9:27.
• That started a bit of a back-and-forth as the teams traded goals. Chestnut Hill answered two minutes later.
• After nearly five more scoreless minutes, Webster scored his second of the game for the Lions.
• But once again CHC had the response, less than a minute later for an 8-3 lead with 1:58 to play.
• In the final 30 seconds, Georgian Court had possession, but Sanford's shot was saved and the half ended with the Griffins up 8-3.
Third Quarter
• Once again GCU scored first in the quarter and once again it was Webster. With one second on the shot clock, Webster found nylon to make it an 8-4 game.
• The Lions won the faceoff and a minute later, Sanford with a wrap around goal got the Lions within three, 8-5, with 10:32 left in the third.
• Vincent Burkhart was up to task in the third quarter. He made multiple point-blank saves to keep GCU close.
• Chestnut Hill scored their first of the half though at the 3:49 mark and added another 1:05 later to take a 10-5 lead into the fourth. 
Fourth Quarter
• Chestnut Hill killed off an early GCU man-up opportunity as goals were once again hard to come by.
• The first 10 minutes were scoreless before Chestnut Hill broke through. Falling down, the Griffins Tommy gave the Griffins their largest lead, 11-5 with 4:47 left to play.
• With 1:54 left to play CHC added another and played keep-away once getting possession with a minute remaining for a 12-5 win.

Lion Stat Leaders
• Millan Webster led the Lions with three goals.
• James Sanford scored twice with an assist.
• Matt Dorrian passed out two assists.
• Vincent Burkhart made 12 saves.
• Justin Iannarone was credited as going 8-20 on faceoffs even though Garrett Kenny was on the dot for a handful. Iannarone grabbed five ground balls.
• Jordan Frank caused two turnovers 

For the Griffins
• Julius Sorino made 16 saves for the win in net.  
• Cade Johnson scored five goals.
• Sam Slater and Noah Hammon each scored twice.
• Jake Ballerini totaled four points with a goal and three assists. 
• Evan Farlow picked up five ground balls and caused a turnover.
• Brandon Bergheier was 12-20 on faceoff attempts with five ground ball pickups. 

News and Notes
• James Sanford played his 50th career game and scored his 40th goal.
• Jordan Frank picked up his 60th career ground ball. 
• The six first quarter goals are the most GCU has ever allowed in a postseason game.
• The five goals scored is tied for their fewest in a game this season. It's also the fewest against a CACC opponent since 2017. 
• Tallen Smith finishes his illustrious career third in Lions history in goals, assists and points.