CALDWELL, N.J. – The game plan was simple for Post University Men's Lacrosse heading into their regular season finale against Caldwell University on the road. Win and you are in the CACC Tournament. Leading wire-to-wire after an 8-0 start to the first quarter, the Eagles did not leave their postseason chances in the hands of the Bridgeport-Chestnut Hill matchup later in the evening, taking matters into their own hands with a 23-7 win over the Cougars. Not only that, but sophomore faceoff specialist Jaxon Holden set the program record with 17 ground balls in the victory, passing Corry Boyle's mark of 11 ground balls set in 2014.

The win ensured that Post will head to the CACC Tournament as the four seed and as a result will play a first round game against the fifth-seeded University of Bridgeport at LaMoy Field on Sunday afternoon at 2:00 PM.

THE BASICS

Post University 23, Caldwell University 7

Post University (9-7, 5-3 CACC)

Caldwell University (4-8, 3-5 CACC)

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Post offense was responsible for the first nine goals of the game across the first quarter and some change, leading 9-0 before the Cougars could even get one past senior goalie Cole George. In that nine-goal stretch, junior attacker Robbie McGrayne recorded two goals and an assist while senior attacker Dylan Heald and sophomore attacker Ryan Denike each did the same. Senior midfielders Hayden Hindman and Brendan Kelleher were responsible for the other two goals in that timeframe.

Heald and McGrayne would both end up with a hat trick by halftime, combining for three goals in the second quarter with two and one respectively. Junior midfielder Tim Keefe had the other goal of the half for Post as the Eagles headed into the break with an 11-goal lead, 13-2, putting themselves just 30 minutes away from clinching a playoff berth.

Although the Cougars would start the scoring in the second half, another long stretch of goals for Post saw them go on a 7-0 run as the trio of Denike, McGrayne, and Heald continued to lead the offensive charge with assistance from senior defender Malcolm Nordquist and senior midfielder Nick Steele which made it a 20-4 game.

When all was set and done in the 23-7 win for Post, Heald had six goals and four assists for a team and a career-high 10 points followed by Denike with five goals and three assists for eight points and McGrayne netting five goals while tacking on an assist for six total points. While he did not record his ninth hat trick of the year, Keefe did a little of everything with two goals and five assists for seven points.

George needed just nine saves in net for the Eagles, who committed 21 turnovers in the win, but were 223-for-32 overall in faceoff wins and held a 38-29 edge in shots. Defensively, it was Heald leading the way with three caused turnovers followed close behind by senior defender Nate Dowd with two and Holden with his record-breaking 17 ground balls.

BY THE NUMBERS

• Jaxon Holden tied his own faceoff win record with 23 wins which came on 32 total attempts – Holden also set the program record in ground balls with 17 on the day, surpassing Corry Boyle's 11 ground balls in a pair of games back in 2014
• With 10 points overall after scoring six goals and adding four assists, Dylan Heald set a new career-high in points for a game
• Scoring 23 goals today, this was the second time this season Post University has reached that mark and put them one away from tying the program record they set earlier this year with 24 goals at Dominican (N.Y.)
• After losing the first two matchups in program history against Caldwell University, Post University has won the last three games they have played against the Cougars while holding them under 10 goals and scoring over 20 goals in the last two affairs

WHO'S NEXT
Post University will enter the CACC Tournament as the four seed in this year's tournament, hosting the four versus five seed matchup against the University of Bridgeport on Sunday at 2:00 PM according to the CACC's Championship webpage at LaMoy Field. Regardless of tonight's result between the Purple Knights and Chestnut Hill College, the Eagles get the fourth seed due to the head-to-head tiebreaker by virtue of beating Bridgeport earlier in the year.