RUTHERFORD, N.J. – The weather conditions were less than ideal, but the outcome was more than ideal for Post University Men's Lacrosse in their conference matchup against Felician University at Tryon Field on Wednesday night. Playing for the first time in a week, in the midst of a heavy wind and rain storm sweeping through the Northeast, the Eagles soared out to an early four-goal lead in the first quarter and never looked back en route to their second conference win of the season, 13-10, over the Golden Falcons.

THE BASICS

Post University 13, Felician University 10

Post University (6-5, 2-1 CACC)

Felician University (3-5, 0-2 CACC)

HOW IT HAPPENED
Only 32 seconds into the contest, sophomore long-stick midfielder Liam Dunn scored the opening goal for Felician which was met with a 5-0 run by the Eagles to take a four-goal lead. Five different Post players found the back of the net during the run starting with senior midfielder Hayden Hindman followed by junior attacker Robbie McGrayne and senior attacker Dylan Heald scoring less than a minute apart from each other. The run was rounded out by senior midfielder Noah Piette and sophomore attacker Ryan Denike, who assisted on the first goal of the game.
 
Becoming the sixth different Eagle to score in the first, junior midfielder Tim Keefe gave Post a 6-2 lead entering the second quarter with his goal. The lead would be cut into during the next 15 minutes as back-to-back goals from freshman attackers Ethan Todner and Joe Bouab made it a two-goal game, 6-4. Re-upping the lead would be McGrayne and Heald with a goal each before junior midfielder Finn Crocker made it an 8-5 game heading into halftime.
 
The narrow lead for Post came despite a 28-15 edge in shots on goal and a hefty 32-15 lead in ground balls. The Eagle defense was soaring high as well with 16 first-half turnovers compared to only 10 for the visitors in the adverse conditions.
 
As the rain continued to pour, goals would come at a premium with each side netting two more for their respective squads in the third to keep it at a three-goal game heading into the fourth. It was Keefe with his second goal of the game and Heald tallying his third goal to get a hat trick for the fifth time this season that got Post up by their largest margin of the game at five, 10-5, before Felician answered back. In a span of 29 seconds, Bouab's second goal and the first for junior midfielder Luke Dayton made it 10-7, in a quarter where shots favored the Golden Falcons, 11-6, but they lost the turnover battle 6-5 and saw Post pick up 14 ground balls to their eight.
 
Finishing the game with four goals and four assists, two big scores from Keefe to start the fourth gave Post a 12-7 advantage, and while three straight goals in response by Crocker helped Felician push back within two, 12-10, Heald would seal the deal with his fourth goal of the game with 2:14 remaining to give Post their second straight win in conference and overall, 13-10. Keefe and Heald finished with four goals each while the latter had four assists as well to finish with eight total points. 
 
Junior long-stick midfielder James Sproul had a team-high eight ground balls in a game where Post had 54 overall which was the second-most for a single game in program history behind only their 59 ground balls picked up against Alderson Broaddus last season. Graduate midfielder Jalen Browne recorded three caused turnovers in the victory to lead the team and tie his career high with that same Alderson Broaddus game from last year.

BY THE NUMBERS

• Dylan Heald recorded his fifth hat trick of the season after scoring four goals in the win – Heald's season-high for hat tricks is nine which he achieved during the 2023 season
• With 54 ground balls in tonight's game, the mark ranks second all-time for Post University in ground balls for a single game behind only their February 25^th, 2023 matchup against Alderson Broaddus at home (59 ground balls) – This is the most ground balls as a team for Post in a road game in program history
• Having won 14-of-27 faceoffs in the game, this is the first time in six games in which the Post University has held the advantage in the faceoff circle – The faceoff win advantage marks only the fourth time this season in that the Eagles have won more faceoffs in a game than their opponent and they are 3-1 in such instances with the one loss being a 9-7 defeat at Franklin Pierce
• Post University pulls to an even .500 in the all-time series against Felician, winning their last two games against the Golden Falcons to move to 3-3 since 2018 – This was the first time the Eagles won on the road against Felician, previously going 0-2 down in New Jersey

 
WHO'S NEXT
Post University returns home for a weekend matchup against Holy Family University at LaMoy Field scheduled for 12:00 PM. This will be the first time both teams meet as the Tigers started their programs this spring.