C.W. Post held off a furious rally to beat Lemoyne 8-7 for the NCAA men's Division II lacrosse championship on Sunday.
Greg Cerar scored four second-half goals for C.W. Post and goalie Dan Sciulla made 13 saves, seven in the fourth quarter, to give the Pioneers (15-1) their second NCAA lacrosse title. They won their first in 1996.
The Dolphins (16-1) were making their fourth straight trip to the Division II final, having won it all in 2004, 2006 and 2007.
The game at Gillette Stadium mirrored LeMoyne's 6-5 win over C.W. Post in the regular season.
C.W. Post got two goals from Dave Loftus to take a 4-2 lead after the first quarter, but LeMoyne battled back in the second quarter and early in the third to tie it on goals by Jikado Hanna and Brooks Robinson.
Cerar's first goal in the third quarter put C.W. Post up 5-4, but the Dolphins' Tyler Sennett wove through the Pioneer defense to tie it at 5. Cerar then scored two more, the second coming on a great rush with just 2 seconds left in the third quarter.
The second of Jack Harmatuk's three goals brought LeMoyne back within 7-6 and the Dolphins stormed the C.W. Post net, but Cera scored his fourth on a great give-and-go with Loftus with 1:28 left.
Harmatuk's third goal made it 8-7 18 seconds later, but LeMoyne couldn't get another shot past Sciulla.
Copyright 2009 AP News
