WATERBURY, Conn. – It was a rainy, raw Saturday afternoon for the Post University Men's Lacrosse home opener at LaMoy Field against St. Thomas Aquinas College. But the entire afternoon could only be summed up in one word: historic. Senior forward Dylan Heald scored three goals, but none bigger than his goal in the first which gave him 100 in his career as he became the first Post player in program history to reach that milestone.
Meanwhile, in net, senior goalies Cole George and Joseph Seminatore combined for the first shutout in program history for Post University as the Eagles got a dominant 21-0 shutout win over St. Thomas Aquinas to win their second straight game and move to .500 on the year.
THE BASICS
Post University 21, St. Thomas Aquinas College 0
Post University (3-3)
St. Thomas Aquinas College (2-5)
HOW IT HAPPENED
From start to finish the game was never in doubt for the Eagles who were boosted by junior midfielder Tim Keefe's big start to the day as he recorded a hat trick in just the first 10 minutes of the game. Just a short while later, Heald would make himself the first player in the 100-goal club while giving Post a 4-0 lead after scoring on the initial shot which was redirected. Junior attacker Robbie McGrayne, who continues to lead the team in scoring after a six-goal effort, added one in the first as well alongside senior midfielder Hayden Hindman and sophomore attacker Ryan Dneike to help Post jump out to a quick 7-0 lead after 15 minutes.
As the rain started to come down for the remainder of the game, it would continue to rain goals for the Eagles with McGrayne, Keefe, Hindman, and Denike each tacking on one more to send Post into halftime with a commanding 11-0 edge.
Senior midfielder Noah Piette added his name to the score sheet in the third while Heald netted his second and McGrayne added three more. After McGrayne scored twice to end the third, he would finish off his day with a third straight goal for Post in the fourth before making way for sophomore midfielder Leighton Cooke's first and only goal of the game. Playing a role in the final three goals of the affair, Keefe would add on two more assists and a goal over the last few minutes to round out his historic 10-point day in the 21-0 win for the Eagles.
Keefe led the way for Post with 10 points after scoring five goals and assisting on five goals which gave him a share of second all-time for single-game assists and total points. A balanced sheet from Heald as well gave him six points after netting three and assisting on three while McGrayne had six goals and no assists in the victory.
10 total players recorded points as sophomore defender Anthony Esposito tallied his first career point with an assist as did senior defender Reid Hannan who picked up an assist on a goal in the second. Nearly everyone saw playing time for Post with only two goalies not seeing action in the affair.
Earning the win after 45 minutes in net was George, his third of the season, after stopping all six shots he faced while Seminatore saw his most single-game minutes since April 23rd, 2022 when he played the entire fourth and stopped the only shot he faced. They were anchored by a Post defense that allowed the Spartans to get just 19 total shots off and seven on net as well as junior long-stick midfielder James Sproul who led the team with six ground balls and three caused turnovers.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Tim Keefe's 10-point performance was a career-high as was the five goals and five assists that contributed to those marks – Keefe's performance placed him second all-time for single-game assists with Ryan Denike last year against Felician and tied for second all-time in single-game points with Alex Brownlee from 2014 against Alderson Broaddus
- Dylan Heald now has 102 career goals in 42 total games played – Heald is officially the first player in program history to reach the milestone and already passed Trevor Buchas (2015-17) for most career goals (91)
- When Post University holds their opponent to under 10 goals in a game, they are now 3-1 this season
- For the second consecutive game, Post University did not allow their opponent to score when playing a man down, going a perfect 5-for-5 in those situations against the Spartans
WHO'S NEXT
Post University continues their three-game homestand with their first-ever matchup against the University of Hartford at LaMoy Field on Tuesday afternoon at 2:00 PM.
