ORANGEBURG, N.Y. –  With every conference game meaning that much more in a crowded Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference pack that sees just five teams make the postseason, Post University Men's Lacrosse took care of business on the road against Dominican (N.Y.) on Saturday afternoon, 12-7, for its fourth straight win overall and fifth against the Chargers in the all-time series.

As it stands, the Eagles sit in fourth place at 3-2 in conference play, trailing Holy Family University and Chestnut Hill College in a tie for second at 3-1, after the Tigers picked up a win against Georgian Court University earlier in the day, dropping the Lions to 2-3 in the conference. The University of Bridgeport, which beat Post earlier this season, can tie the Eagles for fourth with the tiebreaker in hand should they win later tonight against Caldwell University.

THE BASICS

Post University 12, Dominican (N.Y.) 7

Post University (7-3, 3-2 CACC)

Dominican (N.Y.) (3-7, 0-4 CACC)

HOW IT HAPPENED
After freshman attacker Cameron Maunders scored at the 9:57 mark of the first for the Eagles and was matched by a strike from senior attacker Chad Keyser, Post would never trail the rest of the afternoon. As part of a 6-0 run that lasted well into the second quarter, senior attacker Leighton Cooke netted a hat trick, while freshman midfielder Edward Wesche and junior midfielder Gabe Roman each had two points apiece.

Freshman attacker Evan Dupras finally snapped the scoreless drought for the Chargers with 2:28 left in the first half, cutting into the six-goal deficit, and sending Dominican (N.Y.) into the break down five, 7-2. In net, sophomore goalie Aiden Waller had six saves on eight attempts, while junior goalie Nicholas Creisher made eight stops for the Chargers, allowing seven goals.

Both Maunders and sophomore midfielder Kegan Swain accounted for a combined 10 of the 19 first-half ground balls that Post had, tallying five each, while Maunders had a team-best two caused turnovers, the only two the Eagles had to that point. Post's offense held onto the ball well, only allowing five turnovers, none of which were caused by the Dominican (N.Y.) defense, which was led by two ground balls from sophomore faceoff specialist Brayden Segerson.

But the win would not come without some pushback from the Chargers, as they would score six consecutive goals between the third and fourth, holding the Eagles scoreless for the entirety of the third, to tie the game up at seven all. Of those six goals, four of them came with a man-up advantage as Post drew six total penalties in the second half after taking just two in the entire first half. Sophomore attacker Nicholas Cupelli was responsible for two of those goals, as was Keyser, while the Dupras brothers accounted for the other two. 

But finally breaking a stretch in which they had now scored since the 5:36 mark of the second quarter, sophomore midfielder Will Brien put the Eagles back in front for good with 10:21 to go in regulation, as Post kicked off a 5-0 run to end the game. During that stretch, it was Brien scoring three times, while Cooke scored the other two in his five-goal day, in which he tallied six total points after assisting Brien with a goal of his own. 

In the 12-7 win, Swain ended up with 12 ground balls, tying him for the second-most in a single game for the program, while Cooke and Brien combined for nine goals and an assist for a total of 10 points out of the 19 the Eagles had. Maunders had his fingerprints in every facet of the game, scoring once and assisting once with seven ground balls and two caused turnovers, while Waller accumulated 13 saves on 20 shots from the Chargers. 

BY THE NUMBER

• Leighton Cooke finished with a team-high five goals and six points overall, notching his fourth hat trick of the season and first in four games
• Kegan Swain finished with 12 ground balls, tying himself for the second-most single game ground balls in program history behind only Jaxon Holden, who had 17 ground balls at Caldwell University on April 24th, 2024
• Post University moves to 7-1 this season when allowing 10 goals or less to an opponent, holding Dominican (N.Y.) to only seven goals in the win -- The one loss for the Eagles came against Wilmington University, in which they allowed 10 goals in a 10-7 loss at home 
• With the victory against Dominican (N.Y.), Post University has now won a program-record five consecutive games against the Chargers, dating back to the 2023 season, after losing the previous five before that

WHO'S NEXT
Post University travels to Rockville Centre, New York, for a non-conference matchup against #13 Molloy University on Wednesday night at 7:00 PM. The Eagles are 0-8 in the all-time series, falling last year at home to the Lions, 10-6.