RADNOR, PA – The No. 6 Cabrini men's lacrosse team was in full postseason mode tonight at Edith Robb Dixon Field, as the Blue and White cruised to a 25-4 win over Neumann in the semifinal round of the Atlantic East Conference tournament.
With the win, the Cavaliers (16-2) will play for a 19th consecutive conference title on Saturday, when they host Gwynedd Mercy (10-5) in the inaugural conference championship game.
Saturday will mark the second consecutive championship meeting for the Cavaliers and Griffiths and the fifth meeting all-time.
Thirteen Cavaliers marked the scoring column today, as the Blue and White paired 60 shots and just nine turnovers. Senior
Jordan Krug led the way with five goals and three assists, giving him 208 career goals, moving into second place on the program's all-time list.
Sophomores
Kyle Tucker and
Griffin Shira added three goals and two assists each, while seniors
Bill Morgan and
Sean Wagner joined juniors
Mike Gerzabek and Ty Moschella added two goals each. Junior
Tyler Kostack notched three assists. Senior
Nick LaBanca added his first goal of the campaign.
The Cavaliers also controlled the faceoff spot, claiming 17 of the 32 draws against the team with the nation's top faceoff win percentage. Sophomore
Luke McCallion went 10-18, while freshman
Jake Huey went 7-8.
While the Blue and White offense hit on all cylinders, its defensive effort was just as stifling. Cabrini held the Knights to just 14 shots and 12-25 in clear attempts and pressured the visitors into 32 turnovers.
Junior
Tommy DeLuca caused a game-high four turnovers and led a unit that saw 11 Cavaliers combine for 17 caused turnovers. Krug, fellow senior
Nick Vass and freshman
Matt Hughes added two caused turnovers each.
Junior
Kyle Myers scooped a team-high six ground balls, two more than Tucker, senior
Kevin Delaney and sophomore
Nick Werner.
Cabrini also saw three players man the cage in today's win, with senior Riley notching a pair of saves in 39 minutes to earn the victory.
Sophomore Eric Conlon put the Knights ahead at the 10:31 mark, then it was all Cavaliers. Krug got the Blue and White on the board with three consecutive goals in a span of 2:20, as Cabrini reeled off 14 unanswered goals to build a 14-1 lead at the half.
Conlon finished the day with two goals, while freshman Brett McLaughlin secured seven ground balls. Junior goaltender Brendan Risley suffered the loss despite 15 saves in 34 minutes of work.
Gwynedd Mercy secured its spot in Saturday's championship round with a 10-8 victory over Marymount in tonight's other semifinal.
After building a 3-1 first quarter lead, the Saints battled back to even the score at 5-5 late in the third quarter. Jacob Dzierzgowski, Lucas Gray and Ryan Simpson combined to score three unanswered goals to put the home team ahead 8-5 with 11:27 to play.
The Saints got one of the goals back before Jordan and Jacob Dzierzgowski scored goals in a one minute span to push the lead to 10-6 with just over four minutes to play.
The Dzierzgowski brothers scored three goals each, while Jacob added three assists. Nick Heiler went 11-17 at the X and secured seven ground balls, two more than Zach Groses. Goaltender Aubron Swartley earned the victory after recording eight saves.
The Cavaliers will look to extend their championship streak to 19 in a row when they host the Griffins at 1pm on Saturday at Edith Robb Dixon Field.