NORTHFIELD, Vt. – The Norwich University men's lacrosse team earned a spot in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Championship game this upcoming Saturday, May 7, after defeating the No. 5 Johnson & Wales Wildcats, 23-7, Wednesday afternoon on Sabine Field at Haynes Family Stadium.

The top seed in the GNAC Tournament, the Cadets were led by Tyler Seidel (Centreville, Md.) who scored five goals and dished out an assist. Parker Campbell (Rockaway, N.J.) had eight points with a pair of goals and six assists, while Callum Jones (Burlington, Ont.) had four points with three goals. Jack Anzalone (Ridgewood, N.J.) scored twice, as well as Christian Masonius (Belmar, N.J.) who also recorded an assist for his three points.

Thomas Muraski (Keller, Texas) won 14 of his 22 faceoff attempts, and Tommy Hopkins (Chelmsford, Mass.) stopped 13 of the Wildcats 20 shots on goal.

The Cadets scored in the opening two minutes as Payden Masaracchia (Enola, Pa.) scored the first of his three goals in the contest. Seidel followed 2:14 later with a goal of his own, and Anzalone scored with 6:49 remaining in the opening frame. Mike Muench scored for the Wildcats, but Jack Haley (Falkville, Ala.) and Jones both scored to close out the first quarter, leading 5-1.

The Cadets continued the offensive onslaught, with Cyrus Guillet (Glens Falls, N.Y.) scoring in the opening 1:27 of the second quarter. Masaracchia then took advantage of a man-up opportunity, before Tyler Drago put a second goal on the board for Johnson & Wales. Norwich closed out the quarter with four straight goals to take an 11-2 lead into the half.

After allowing the Wildcats to score the first goal of the second half, but the Cadets responded by rattling off nine straight goals to end the period, leading 20-3.  Johnson & Wales outscored the Cadets in the final frame 4-3, as the Cadets sealed the win.

Norwich (17-1, 10-0 GNAC) will now turn their attention to the GNAC Championship game on Saturday, May 7 against No. 2 Lasell, who advanced to the title game with an 8-4 victory over No. 3 Rivier.  This contest will mark the third straight GNAC Championship contest between the two programs.