SALISBURY, MD – The Cabrini men's lacrosse team dominated the final 15 minutes and earned the right to continue its historic season, topping No. 2 Salisbury 16-13 to secure a place in Sunday's national championship game.

The win improved the No. 6 Blue and White to a program best 21-2. With the victory, the Cavaliers have also avenged both of its losses during the 2019 regular season, topping No. 4 York and the No. 2 Sea Gulls en route to the title tilt.

Joining the Cavaliers at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday will be the No. 7 Amherst College Mammoths, who will also be making the program's first ever championship game appearance after today's 12-8 win at No. 5 Williams.

Senor Jordan Krug paced the Blue and White with a career high seven goals on just eight shots in the win. Juniors Tyler Kostack, Jacob Klein and Mike Gerzabek joined sophomore Kyle Tucker with two goals each.

Senior Sean Wagner paired four caused turnovers and three ground balls, while juniors Robert Cressman and Tommy DeLuca caused two each and combined for seven ground balls. Klein matched DeLuca with four ground balls, with junior Kyle Myers matching Wagner with three.

Junior Luke McCallion went 12-30 at the faceoff spot on the day, including four in the decisive fourth quarter, and secured six ground balls.

Senior Riley White anchored the Blue and White defensive effort with nine saves, claiming his 42nd career win.

The Cavaliers showed no fear from the opening faceoff, scoring the game's first three goals. Tucker, Klein and Krug marked the scoring column in less than two minutes, as Cabrini built a 3-0 lead less than six minutes into the action.

Corey Gwin stopped the Cabrini scoring streak with Salisbury's first goal at the 6:55 mark, but Krug and Kostack responded with unassisted goals. Krug completed his hat trick with 2:12 left in the first quarter, as the Blue and White carried a 6-2 lead into the second frame.

Just as the Cavaliers controlled the opening stanza, the Sea Gulls controlled the second, outshooting Cabrini 17-7. Salisbury dominated the faceoff x, winning eight of the nine draws in the period and rode the success to seven second quarter goals.

The home team netted five unanswered markers to build a 9-7 lead late in the stanza, but Krug's fourth goal cut the Salisbury lead to 9-8 at the half.

Cressman evened the score early in the third quarter before the teams alternated goals. Gerzabek's man-up goal evened the score at 10 before Krug closed the period with another goal, tying the score at 11 with 15 minutes to play.

Klein found Gerzabek from behind the net to give Cabrini a lead early in the fourth, but it was the Sea Gulls' chance to even the score on a Zach Pompea tally. Less than a minute later, senior Nicholas Waligurski hit Kostack  for a goal to give the Blue and White a lead it would not relinquish.

Cabrini maintained its slim 13-12 lead until the 6:25 mark, when the Cavaliers took advantage of a Salisbury penalty. Krug found Klein to push the Blue and White advantage to 14-12.  Just over a minute later, Krug pushed the lead to three goals with an unassisted tally.

The Sea Gulls would not go away, as Tyler Snyder's goal with just north of two minutes to play pulled Salisbury back to within 15-13.

McCallion won the ensuing faceoff, allowing Cabrini to burn some clock. The Cavaliers called a time out with just 12 seconds on the possession clock and 49 seconds left in regulation. Cabrini put the ball in Krug's stick coming out of the time out. The senior immediately beat a double-team and worked through an extended Salisbury defense to
seal the victory with just 42 seconds left.

In the fourth quarter alone, the Cavaliers outshot Salisbury 10-3 and pressured the Sea Gulls into seven of its 18 turnovers.

Cross Ferrara led the Sea Gulls (22-2) with three goals, while Jarrett Bromwell, Emory Wongus and Tyler Snyder added two goals each.  Jackson Woodward scooped a game-high seven ground balls, two more than Brett Malamphy, who went 13-20 at the faceoff spot. Goaltender Brandon Warren matched White with nine saves in the loss.

Like Cabrini, Amherst (18-3) avenged each of its three regular season losses, with the third coming in today's win at NESCAC rival Williams.

The Mammoths dominated the opening 15 minutes of play, building a 4-0 cushion with 6:19 left in the first quarter. Williams climbed back into the game in the second quarter and outscored Amherst 4-1 in the third to build an 8-7 lead with 15 minutes to play.

Jon Coffey evened the score in the first minute of the final stanza and the Mammoths never looked back, scoring five fourth quarter goals on just 11 shots to put the game away.

Colin Minicus led the Mammoths with three goals and two helpers, while Matt Solberg joined Coffey with two goals in the win.  Luke Mallette caused three turnovers, with Jimmy McAfee and Dylan Finazzo combining for 13 ground balls. Gib Versfeld recorded eight saves in the victory.