May 28, 2000

COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Limestone College used a 4-2 run in the fourth quarter and held off a furious rally by C.W. Post in winning its first-ever national title, 10-9, Sunday afternoon at Ludwig Field. C.W. Post lost in the national championship game for the third consecutive season. The game was played in front of 2,019 fans - the most people ever to watch a Division II championship game. Limestone is the first school from South Carolina to win a national title in lacrosse and is the Southern-most school ever to win a lacrosse national championship.

The Saints entered the fourth quarter with a 6-5 advantage and extended the lead to 8-5 with back-to-back goals. Brendan Spilker scored unassisted with 14:25 left and Nick Carlson took a feed from Chris Campbell to give the Saints a three-goal advantage for the second time in the game. Carlson scored two of his team-leading three goals in the fourth quarter, garnering Most Outstanding Player honors.

C.W. Post came back with a pair of goals of its own as Joe Buccello and Ernie Thompson closed the gap to 8-7. The Saints answered as Carlson and Matt Collins both scored for a 10-7 advantage with 3:38 to play. However, C.W. Post's Benny Cottone scored a pair of goals :39 apart - the second coming with 2:22 remaining, bringing the Pioneers to within a score for the second time in the quarter. Post had a chance to tie the game with under :30 remaining, but the shot on goal by Drew Cavadias went wide.

Limestone never relinquished the lead in the game, taking a 3-0 advantage in the first quarter. Rick Matthews, Devan Spilker and Collins each had tallies. Cottone scored the first of his game-high five goals on the day - opening Post's scoring. Cottone added another and Collins followed to tie the game at 3-3 with 9:22 remaining in the second quarter. Limestone took a 5-4 advantage into halftime on Jon Riley's rocket from the left point that found the top of the net with 4:45 remaining in the second quarter. C.W. Post tied the game for the final time at 4-4 as Cottone took a feed from Gavin Chamberlain for the extra-man goal with 6:15 remaining in the second quarter.

GAME SCORING
Limestone (14-2 ) 3 2 1 4 -- 10
C.W. Post (8-4)   1 3 1 4 -- 9

Qtr.-Time Team, Goal (Assist) LC-CWP
1-14:28   LC, Rick Matthews (unassisted) 1-0
1-13:15   LC, Devan Spilker (unassisted) 2-0
1-7:48    LC, Matt Collins (unassisted) 3-0
1-1:07    CWP, Benny Cottone (Anthony Santamaria) 3-1
2-11:42   CWP, Benny Cottone (Gavin Chamberlain) 3-2
2-9:22    CWP, Larry Collins (Drew Cavadias) 3-3
2-8:10    LC, Nick Carlson (Josh Rudder) 4-3
2-6:15    CWP, Benny Cottone (Gavin Chamberlain) - EMO 4-4
2-4:45    LC, Jon Riley (Chris Campbell) 5-4
3-8:19    LC, Brendan Spilker (Nick Carlson) 6-4
3-7:46    CWP, Drew Cavadias (unassisted) 6-5
4-14:25   LC, Brendan Spilker (unassisted) 7-5
4-13:12   LC, Nick Carlson (Chris Campbell) 8-5
4-10:27   CWP, Joe Buccello (unassisted) - EMO 8-6

4-7:57    CWP, Ernie Thompson (unassisted) 8-7
4-6:40    LC, Nick Carlson (unassisted) 9-7
4-3:38    LC, Matt Collins (Jon Riley) 10-7
4-3:01    CWP, Benny Cottone (unassisted) - EMO 10-8
4-2:22    CWP, Benny Cottone (Gavin Chamberlain) 10-9


TEAM STATS
Category         Limestone                      CW Post
Shots            8-12-8-6=34                    10-9-9-12=40
Saves            5-1-1-3=10                      3-3-2-1=9
Face-Offs        (2/5),(0/5),(0/3),(3/9)=5/22   (3/5),(5/5),(3/3),(6/9)=17/22
Groundballs      14-10-8-10=42                  11-12-14-13=50
Clears           (5/8),(6/8),(4/5),(4/5)=19/26  (3/3),(5/5),(4/7),(2/3)=14/18
Extra-Man Opp.   (0/1),(0/1),(0/1),(0/2)=0/5    (0/4),(1/1),(0/3),(2/2)=3/10
Penalties        10/8:00                        5/4:30
INDIVIDUAL SCORING
Limestone
Scorers          Goals-Asst.-Pts.
Nick Carlson           3-1-4
Matt Collins           2-0-2
Brendan Spilker        2-0-2
Jon Riley              1-1-2
Chris Campbell         0-2-2
Devan Spilker          1-0-1
Rick Matthews          1-0-1
Josh Rudder            0-1-1

C.W. Post
Scorers          Goals-Asst.-Pts.
Benny Cottone          5-0-5
Gavin Chamberlain      0-3-3
Drew Cavadias          1-1-2
Joe Buccello           1-0-1
Larry Collins          1-0-1
Ernie Thompson         1-0-1
Anthony Santamaria     0-1-1

GOALIES
Limestone
Goalies          Saves GA Min.
Matt Malloy          10 9 60

C.W. Post
Goalies          Saves GA Min.
R.J. Degenfelder     9 10 60

ATTENDANCE: 2,019