WATERBURY, Conn. -- An unorthodox early spring day, which saw a light coating of snow on the turf at LaMoy Field, could not hamper a bright Senior Day for Post University Men's Lacrosse as the Eagles honored their eight outgoing seniors on Saturday morning before taking on the University of Bridgeport in a pivotal conference matchup. Behind seven goals and two assists from senior attacker Robbie McGrayne, Post moved one step closer to a conference tournament spot with a win over the Purple Knights, 18-11, as they head into their final two games of the regular season over the next two weeks. 

THE BASICS

Post University 18, University of Bridgeport 11

Post University (7-5, 4-2 CACC)

University of Bridgeport (4-7, 1-4 CACC)

HOW IT HAPPENED
Going toe-to-toe with each other in the first quarter, both McGrayne for Post and junior midfielder James Napoli for Bridgeport had two goals each, while freshman midfielder Will Brien and graduate attacker Hunter McCarty accounted for the other two goals of the frame for the Eagles who held a 4-2 lead after 15 minutes of action. Post never trailed in the affair and would only be tied once on back-to-back goals from junior defender Ryan Thomas and freshman midfielder Stephen Trama to start the second, which made it four all. 

The Eagle lead would grow to as many as seven goals during the game, with the high mark coming when Brien scored the final goal of the day for Post with 1:07 left in regulation. Brien's goal, his second of the game, was the end of a 5-0 fourth-quarter run that Post had to pull away from the Purple Knights, who had just cut the deficit down to two, 13-11, on sophomore midfielder Joe Martin's goal with 13:55 left. 

Coming up with some big saves along the way was freshman goalie Aiden Waller, who earned his fifth win in net for the Eagles after making 12 saves on 23 shots from Bridgeport. Senior goalie Nolan Martin played 2:17 of the game for Post, making his first collegiate start and finishing out the game in net after being honored beforehand as one of the outgoing seniors from the program.

Sophomore goalie Casey Dmochowski came up with 19 saves while allowing 16 goals on the afternoon for the Purple Knights before being lifted in the final 4:35 for freshman goalie Trevor Cannata, who allowed two goals on the only two shots he faced from the Eagles. 

In addition to the seven-goal outing for McGrayne, McCarty finished with four points and two assists, bringing him to 195 career points between his time at Concordia University and as an Eagle, while junior attacker Ryan Denike had a season-high seven points after scoring three times and dishing out four assists. 

The adverse conditions led to 76 combined ground balls between the two teams, with Post holding a 45-31 advantage, led by junior faceoff specialist Jaxon Holden with nine ground balls, a game-high, followed by McCarty with seven ground balls as well as three caused turnovers. For Holden, he dominated in the faceoff dot, winning 17-of-27 faceoffs in the game while junior faceoff specialist Connor Cullen took 12-of-24 faceoffs for the Purple Knights. 

After leading only by three, 9-6, heading into halftime, Post's offense outscored Bridgeport by a 9-5 margin in the second half, including a 6-1 fourth-quarter performance. The Eagles are now a perfect 4-0 in the all-time series with the Purple Knights, which dates back to 2023 when they joined the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference. 

BY THE NUMBER

• Robbie McGrayne had a season-best seven goals and tied his season-high in points with nine after tacking on two assists as well for Post University 
• Recording six points today, Hunter McCarty continues his pursuit of 200 career points and now sits at 195 career points following the game 
• Leighton Cooke's hat-trick streak was snapped at 10 consecutive games after he was held to just two goals and two assists for four total points against the University of Bridgeport today
• Post University remains undefeated in the all-time series against the University of Bridgeport with today's win, holding a 4-0 record since the first meeting back in 2023 

WHO'S NEXT
Post University will close out its home regular-season schedule on Thursday afternoon when it takes on Felician University at 2:00 PM on LaMoy Field. The Eagles are 3-3 in the all-time series against the Golden Falcons, winning each of the last two matchups, 19-5 and 13-10, over the last two seasons.