No. 1 Delaware & No. 3 Stony Brook Advance to CAA Championship with Semifinal Victories on Thursday
Hunter Peters
CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL
NEWARK, Del. (May 4, 2023) – Top-seeded Delaware and third-seeded Stony Brook advanced to the 2023 CAA Men’s Lacrosse Championship game following semifinal victories on Thursday night at Delaware Stadium. The teams will battle for the conference title at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 6.
Delaware, the defending CAA Champion, moves onto its second straight championship final and seventh in program history, while Stony Brook advances to the league championship in its inaugural season in the CAA.
No. 1 Delaware 11, No. 4 Towson 8 | Box Score | Photo Gallery
Delaware (11-4) weathered an early storm from Towson (6-9), using a 6-1 to flip a two-goal deficit into a three-goal advantage, and went on to beat the Tigers 11-8. The run took place over the final six minutes of the first half and the first five minutes of the second half, allowing the Blue Hens to avenge a setback against the Tigers just five days ago.
JP Ward netted a first-half hat trick, leading Delaware with three goals, while Mike Robinson added three points on two goals and one assist. It marks Ward's sixth hat trick this season and the seventh multi-goal performance for Robinson.
Towson started the game firing on all cylinders and scored three goals in the first 4:27 to open a 3-0 lead. Josh Webber scored the opening goal 51 seconds in, followed by goals from Nick DeMaio and Kyle Berkeley just over a minute apart. Ward got the Blue Hens on the board at the 7:07 mark in the first frame before adding his second goal with a minute remaining in the quarter. Despite going scoreless over the final 10:37 in the opening stanza, Towson maintained the one-goal into the second.
Much like the first, the Tigers took no time getting on the board in the second as Ryan Schrier found the back of the net one minute and 15 seconds into the quarter. However, the Blue Hens responded with a 3-0 run to take its first lead in the contest. Jason Kolar started the run before Ward netted a first-half hat trick, and Cam Acchione gave Delaware the lead with 4:21 remaining in the half. The teams traded goals less than 10 seconds apart to close out the quarter, and Delaware took a 6-5 lead into the break.
The Blue Hens took the momentum into the third as Logan Premtaj won the opening face-off and netted his first career goal six seconds into the second half. Nick Jessen gave Delaware its largest lead, 8-5, extending the run to 3-0. Back-to-back goals from Berkeley pulled Towson within one, but the Blue Hens responded with two of their own in the final 2:24 and led 10-7 at the end of three. Tye Kurtz tallied his 47th goal this season, followed by Robinson’s 20th score this spring to give Delaware the advantage.
The teams traded goals over the final 15 minutes, Berkely finding the back of the net for the fourth time before Robinson added his second score.
Berkeley tallied a game-high five points for Towson, adding one assist to his four goals, which match his career-best.
No. 3 Stony Brook 13, No. 2 Drexel 10 | Box Score | Photo Gallery
After falling behind 2-0, Stony Brook (9-6) rallied off a 10-0 run to capture momentum and never looked back, downing Drexel (8-6) 13-10. The Seawolves took the lead at the 7:13 mark in the first quarter and stayed in front for the remainder of the contest, pushing its lead to as many as nine.
Jonathan Huber was one goal shy of the championship record, pacing the Seawolves with five to match his season high. Will Button added a career-best four points, recording two goals and two assists for Stony Brook.
For Drexel, Jack Mulcahy tallied a game-high six points on two goals and four assists, while Luke Tomak netted a team-high three goals for his fifth hat trick this spring.
Drexel opened the contest with back-to-back goals before Stony Brook rallied off six straight to end the opening stanza. Conor Hooley and Casey Waller scored for the Dragons before Declan Mitchell won the ensuing face-off and scored his second goal this season to spark the Stony Brook run. Huber recorded two goals during the rally, while Matt Anderson dished out two assists.
The Seawolves continued the run into the second quarter, scoring the first four in the frame and gaining a 10-2 lead. Button assisted on the first two goals of the quarter before scoring his second of the game. Tomak ended the Stony Brook run, netting back-to-back scores in the final three minutes of the half to make it 10-4 at the break.
Stony Brook came out of halftime with three straight goals, two by Huber, and gained its largest lead in the game, 13-4. Drexel got goals from Mulcahy and Sean Donnelly before the end of the period as the Seawolves took a seven-goal advantage into the fourth.
The Dragons gave it a run in the fourth, outscoring Stony Brook 4-0 in the period to end the game on a 6-0 run; however, it was not enough to overcome the early run.
Drexel had an 18-8 advantage at the face-off X, with Justin Joseph taking all 26 face-offs for the Dragons. Despite the advantage, Jamison MacLachlan made 15 saves, posing a .600 save percentage for Stony Brook between the pipes.
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