Colin Achenbach
C.W. Post defeats NYIT 11-9
Colin Achenbach
OLD WESTBURY, N.Y. (Apr. 1, 2006) - The third-ranked C.W. Post men's lacrosse team overcame a 3-0 first-quarter deficit Saturday afternoon at Presidents' Stadium, and broke open a 6-6 deadlock with a game-changing five-goal spurt in the second half as the Pioneers defeated defending national champion and second-ranked NYIT, 11-9, in the NYCAC opener for both teams.
The host Bears (5-1, 0-1 NYCAC) scored the first three goals on the day 10:47 into the contest, as Keith Henderson (2 g, 2 a), Matt Dolan and Mike Maxwell each registered tallies. Senior midfielder Tim Paulson scored a pair of tallies with 4:10 and 2:22 left in the first period to pull the Pioneers (3-1, 1-0 NYCAC) to within one.
Tim Paulson
Henderson and C.W. Post leading scorer Colin Achenbach (game-high three goals, one assist) traded goals midway through the second period, before NYIT's Kevin Hennessy put NYIT up 5-3 with 2:05 left before halftime. However, Ralph Carino (1 g, 2 a) scored with 1:29 to go before Achenbach ripped the rope with a minute remaining to send the teams into halftime tied at 5-all. The pair's tallies actually started a run over a 22:32 span in which the visitors scored eight of the next nine goals.
Jeremy Jablonski (5 gb) scored the first of his two goals on the afternoon 58 seconds into the second half to give C.W. Post its first lead of the day at 6-5. Henderson found Brett Tietjen for an equalizing goal with 11:13 left in the third period, knotting the game at 6-6.
From there, the Pioneers scored the next five goals of the game to take a commanding 11-6 advantage. Jason Hoover scored the go-ahead goal with 3:37 left in the third period, before Jablonski converted an Achenbach feed with 2:02 left to give C.W. Post an 8-6 lead after three quarters of play.
Achenbach and Mike Dimler scored single goals in the first 3:38 of the fourth period, before Jimmy Davis took a Tom Hill pass and scored the lone man-up goal on either side to put C.W. Post up by five goals with 8:57 to go. Matt Miller scored both of his goals with 7:22 and 4:53 left, respectively, before Chip Schmidt found the back of the net with 51 seconds remaining to pull NYIT to within 11-9. From there, the Pioneers defense held tough through an abbreviated man-up opportunity in the final 15 seconds to secure the win.
C.W. Post outshot the hosts by a 53-43 count, while the Bears held a 41-36 advantage in ground balls. Two keys to the Pioneers victory included a 12-for-24 performance against NYIT vaunted face-off specialist Joe Vasold (Matt Buttafuoco won 8-of-13 draws for C.W. Post), and a perfect 5-for-5 display in man-down defense.
Mike Rimmer made seven of his 11 saves in the second half for C.W. Post, while NYIT keeper Dan Goosk turned aside 17 shots in the Bears cage.
Head coach Tom Postel's C.W. Post team must now prepare for another nationally-ranked conference opponent, as the Pioneers will open their home schedule Wednesday afternoon (Apr. 5) at Hickox Field against sixth-ranked and undefeated Dowling. Opening face-off from Brookville, N.Y. is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.