WATERBURY, Conn. – It was a defensive stalemate at LaMoy Field on Senior Day for Post University Men's Lacrosse, as the Eagles were held to just five goals against D'Youville University on Saturday afternoon, falling for the first time in program history to the Saints, 6-5, as they have just two games left in the regular season, both in conference play. 

THE BASICS

Post University 5, D'Youville University 6

Post University (8-5)

D'Youville University (8-4)

HOW IT HAPPENED
A defensive stalemate for the entire first half, sophomore goalie Aiden Waller made 12 saves, single-handedly keeping the Eagles in the affair as they would only manufacture five shots on goal against senior goalie William Nichols. While Nichols made three saves, the Saints' defense caused six turnovers as the Eagles as a team committed 13 total turnovers and three penalties.

Of those three man-up chances for D'Youville, they would convert on one of them with 1:53 left in the first half as junior midfielder Carsyn Kent beat Waller with his shot, making it a 3-1 game. It took nearly 13 minutes for either team to find the back of the net until senior attacker Leighton Cooke gave Post the lead with the help of senior attacker Tomasz Simeunovic, his second assist of the year.

But three consecutive goals would turn the tide back in favor of the Saints, with Kent's late score, along with goals from senior attacker Brady Ruffalo and freshman attacker Trevor Miller. Junior midfielder Gabe Roman finally broke the scoreless stretch for the Eagles with inside of a minute left, beating Nichols with a shot off the crossbar and in, cutting the deficit down to one, 3-2, at the break.

In all, Post would end up finishing the game with 22 turnovers, 13 of which were caused by D'Youville, led by senior defender Logan Schwartz, with three caused turnovers. The Eagles would take their first and only lead in the fourth quarter as part of a 2-0 scoring run from sophomore midfielder Will Brien and freshman attacker Cameron Maunders, putting them in front, 5-4, with 12:26 left in regulation.

However, the lead would be short-lived as 2:57 later on a man-up advantage, freshman midfielder Graham Scholett tied the game at five all, where it would remain with a minute left. While it looked like Post would have the final shot of the game, the Saints would force graduate defender Kyle Such to turn the ball over in the defensive half of the field with 55 seconds left, turning the tie in their favor. 

Striking for the second time of the day would be Kent with 28 seconds left, while Nichols made his 15th and final save on the defensive end against Cooke to secure the 6-5 victory for D'Youville on the road. As for Waller, he would stand on his head, making a career-high 18 saves on 24 total shots from the Saints, falling to 5-4 in net this year. 
BY THE NUMBER

• In the game, Ryan Denike played his 63rd career game, setting the new program record for Post University
• Despite taking the loss in net, Aiden Waller made a career-high 18 saves on 24 attempts from D'Youville University -- This is the eighth time this season in which Waller has made 10-plus saves in a game 
• When allowing less than 10 goals this season, Post University now drops to 7-2 on the season in such situations despite holding D'Youville University to only six goals, which ties the fewest goals allowed against the Saints in the all-time series
• This is the first time in program history that D'Youville University has beaten Post University in the all-time series, having lost the previous two matchups by 10 goals or more

WHO'S NEXT
Playing its final regular-season road game, Post University has a week off before heading to Felician University next Saturday evening to face the Golden Falcons at 6:30 PM.  The Eagles have won three consecutive games against Felician since the 2023 season.