WATERBURY, Conn. – Much like the weather on Wednesday compared to last Friday, the performance on the field for Post University Men's Lacrosse from then to now was like day and night. Trampling Franklin Pierce University at LaMoy Field on Wednesday afternoon, 16-6, freshman midfielder Will Brien scored his first collegiate goal en route to a five-goal, five-point afternoon. 

Senior attacker Robbie McGrayne led the way for the Eagle offense with six goals and three assists as he inches closer and closer to the program records in career goals as well as career points. Making history with six ground balls and two caused turnovers was senior long-stick midfielder James Sproul, surpassing the career marks for the program in those two categories. 

THE BASICS

Post University 16, Franklin Pierce University 6

Post University (1-1)

Franklin Pierce University (0-3)

HOW IT HAPPENED
From the first draw, it was all Post offensively as junior attacker Leighton Cooke wasted no time getting the Eagles on the scoreboard less than 2 1/2 minutes into the game. Cooke's goal would be the first of four in the opening quarter for Post who jumped out to a 4-1 lead after 15 minutes following goals from Brien, McGrayne, and graduate attacker Hunter McCarty. While McGrayne only had one goal in the first quarter, he assisted on three of the four goals to open things up, giving him three points after one.

Shutting out the Ravens in the second, McGrayne and the Eagles upped their lead to eight goals at halftime, 9-1, behind two more from the senior attacker as well as Brien and another from Cooke. The trio made up eight of the nine goals with McCarty's first-quarter strike being the outlier in the mix of the offensive barrage. By the half, Post had outshot Franklin Pierce by an impressive 31-10 margin while freshman goalie Liam McCurry made four saves on five attempts compared to freshman goalie Sean Cote who needed to make 10 saves on 19 shots taken by the Eagles.

While only outscoring the Ravens by a 7-5 margin in the second half total, Post continued to dominate in every area of the field on their way to a 10-goal victory, 16-6. All four of the first-half scorers for the Eagles were responsible for all the scoring in the second half as McGrayne finished with a team-high six goals followed by Brien with five goals. Cooke trailed that duo with three goals, but also tacked on four assists for a total of seven points in the outing and McCarty rounded out the team with two goals and one assist for three points.

Junior attacker Ryan Denike finished with three assists and three points, bringing him to 95 points in his career and just five away from being the sixth player to join the 100 Point Club. Sophomore midfielder Gabe Roman tallied his first assist of the season with Post, helping McGrayne on his lone goal of the third quarter, while McCurry closed out his first collegiate win in net for the Eagles with seven saves in the 16-6 win.

Scoring two goals each, freshman attacker Caleb White and junior midfielder Jackson Philion led the Ravens on offense while junior attacker Alex Costa picked up a team-high five ground balls. Hitting the program record for ground balls, Sproul picked up a game-high six for the Eagles as well as a game-high two caused turnovers to break that program record as well. 

BY THE NUMBERS

• James Sproul finished the game with six ground balls and two caused turnovers – Those marks bring him to 175 ground balls, and 63 caused turnovers in his career as he surpassed Alsharif Blackman (2015-17) with 174 ground balls and Peter Naboka (2019-23) with 61 caused turnovers to break the all-time records at Post University
• Robbie McGrayne scored six goals and added three assists for nine total points, putting him at 132 career goals and 176 career points – McGrayne is only two goals away from the all-time record of 134 goals scored by Dylan Heald (2021-24) and 27 points from Heald's program-best 202 career points 
• Scoring his first collegiate goals today, Will Brien exploded for five goals and five total points in the win for Post University 
• Today's win for Post University snaps a five-game losing streak against Franklin Pierce University in the all-time series as the Eagles entered the day 1-7 all-time against the Ravens and scored 10-plus goals in one prior matchup which coincided with their one win against Franklin Pierce

WHO'S NEXT
Post University finishes their three-game homestand to start the 2025 season next Wednesday when they take on American International College (AIC) at 1:00 PM on LaMoy Field. The Eagles have won four of the last five head-to-head matchups against the Yellow Jackets including their last three which culminated last season with an 11-7 win on the road.