WATERBURY, Conn. – It all comes down to next Wednesday night for Post University Men's Lacrosse when they take on Chestnut Hill College on the road to decide their seeding for the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Tournament. Taking care of business in their home regular-season finale against Felician University, 19-7, the Eagles locked up a playoff spot and at least the fourth seed in the CACC Tournament in two weeks.

Sitting at 5-2 in conference play this year, like the Griffins, the winner of next Wednesday's affair will take the tournament's third seed, avoiding a first-round game on Monday, April 28th, and taking on the two seed on the road on Wednesday, April 30th. If Post loses, they would take the fourth seed, hosting whoever claims the fifth seed in the tournament on that Monday at LaMoy Field.

THE BASICS

Post University 19, Felician University 7

Post University (8-5, 5-2 CACC)

Felician University (3-8, 1-5 CACC)

HOW IT HAPPENED
A pair of one-goal leads is all Felician would be able to sustain against the Eagles, as sophomore midfielder Jayden Rios scored only 36 seconds into the affair, and after senior attacker Robbie McGrayne, senior midfielder Finn Crocker gave the visitors the lead once more, 2-1, with 8:01 remaining before Post's 7-0 run that lasted into the second quarter gave them the lead for good.

As part of that 7-0 run, freshman midfielder Will Brien netted three straight goals, giving him a hat-trick in the game en route to his four-goal outing, while graduate attacker Hunter McCarty had his first of five points when he started the run with the game-tying goal in the first. McCarty's five-point day would give him 200 points in his career between his time here at Post and his previous school in Concordia University, while junior attacker Leighton Cooke nearly had a historical game as well.

Cooke finished with a team-high 10 points, going off for three goals and seven assists, with his seven assists coming one away from tying the single-game record. Sean Olsen holds the all-time single-game assists mark with eight in the April 24th, 2019, game against Felician University, as well as the single-game point record with 13 points in the same one. Cooke's 10 points tied him with four other players for second all-time in single-game points, which also coincides with his career-high in points. 

Junior attacker Ryan Denike also had another seven-point day for the Eagles, scoring two goals and tacking on five assists as he was one of seven different Post players to score and four to have an assist. Freshman goalie Aiden Waller moved to 6-2 on the season in the net, making 13 saves on 20 shots, allowing seven goals to make it his seventh game this year in which he has allowed less than 10 goals in a game. Freshman goalie Dominick Zichelli and senior goalie Nolan Martin split up the final seven minutes and change in goal, not facing any shots from the Golden Falcons in Post's 19-7 win. 

Freshman attacker Connor Langdon led Felician with three goals, followed by two goals and two assists from Rios offensively. Senior goalie Nick Grebe played the first half in net, allowing 11 goals on 15 attempts before being lifted for sophomore goalie Landon Santangelo in the second half. Santangelo allowed seven goals on 10 shots, giving way to freshman goalie Ruairi O'Connor for the last 7:54 of regulation as Felician goalies combined to allow 19 goals and make just 10 saves. 

BY THE NUMBER

• Leighton Cooke nearly tied the program record for most assists in a game, recording seven in the win, which was one off from tying Sean Olsen's record of eight assists against Felician University on April 24th, 2019 – Cooke's 10-point game via three goals and those seven assists tied him for the second-most single-game points behind Olsen's 13-point outing in that same 2019 affair
• Between his time at Concordia University and Post University, Hunter McCarty has reached 200 career points after scoring three times and adding two assists for a total of five points against Felician University
• For the second straight game, Ryan Denike finished with seven points after scoring twice and adding five assists -- Denike registered seven points last game against the University of Bridgeport at home, scoring three times and having four assists
• Post University is currently on a program record three-game winning streak in the all-time series against Felician University, having not lost to them since the 2022 season on the road

WHO'S NEXT
In a game that will decide the CACC Tournament's three seed, Post University travels to Chestnut Hill College to close out their regular season next Wednesday night at 7:00 PM. The Eagles have been held to less than 10 goals in all but one matchup against the Griffins in the all-time series, currently holding a 3-8 record and coming off a 10-9 loss last year against them at home.