RADNOR, PA – For the fifth consecutive year, the Cabrini men's lacrosse team will advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Cabrini men's lacrosse team earned a hard fought 21-11 win over Grove City College in today's opening round of the NCAA Tournament.

With today's victory, the Cavaliers (11-2) will make their fifth consecutive appearance in the tournament's second round. The win also sets up a showdown with No. 2 Salisbury in Sunday's second round.

The Blue and White grabbed an early lead, as senior Matt LoParo and sophomore Jake Huey scored two goals in a span of five seconds early the game. Freshman Max Drift added a goal late in the opening period to give the Cavaliers a 3-0 lead.

The Wolverines (11-2) grabbed some momentum in the final 90 seconds of the quarter, as junior Addison Bennett put the visitors on the board.

Despite Cabrini extending its lead to 5-1 on goals by senior Mike Gerzabek and junior Kyle Tucker in the opening minutes of the second quarter, the game remained tight with the team's combining for seven goals in the first five minutes of the stanza.

Grove City junior Brett Gladstone tallied four of his six goals in a three minute span, but it was the defensive combo of senior Tommy DeLuca and sophomore Zach Kaut who made their impact felt on the offensive side to held Cabrini maintain its two goal cushion.

Trailing by two goals late in the second quarter, the Wolverines struck twice to even the score at 8-8 at the halftime break.

The Cavaliers took advantage of the 15 minute halftime break to refocus and it paid off in the opening minutes of the third quarter. Cabrini outshot its opponent 22-6 and pressured it into 11 turnovers in the period.

The pressure paid off, as the Blue and White posted six unanswered goals to seize control of the game. Drift and Tucker keyed the spurt with two goals each, while senior Ty Koastak added a goal and an assist. Grove City snapped the run late in the frame, but found themselves looking up at a 14-10 deficit with just 15 minutes to play.

Cabrini erased any thought of a comeback early in the final period. Sophomore Jake Huey won the opening faceoff and scored a goal just six seconds into the period before goals by LoParo, Kostack and Gerzabek pushed the lead to 18-10with9:34 to play.

Grove City briefly interrupted Cabrini's scoring run but freshmen Austin Bolton and Bryan Rafferty added to the lead before senior Casey Collins notched his first career goal.

After struggling to find its rhythm in the opening 30 minutes, the Cavaliers outshot Grove City 33-10, won 10 of 18 faceoffs and forced 16 turnovers in the second half.  

LoParo led the Cavaliers' attack with four goals and an assist, while Tucker and Drift paired three goals and a helper each. Gerzaberk joined Kostack, Huey and Rafferty with two goals each.

DeLuca anchored the defensive effort with three caused turnovers and five ground balls, while classmate Eric Carr caused a pair of miscues. Huey went 14-25 at the faceoff spot and secured a team high seven ground balls, three more than Drift and junior Evan Trizonis.

Freshman goaltender Rob Pensabene won his second consecutive start after recording five saves.

The Cavaliers had few answers for Gladstone, who finished with a game high six goals. Junior Grant Evans went 18-34 at the faceoff x and earned game high honors with 14 ground balls. Sophomore goaltender Jack Petit suffered the loss despite recording 14 saves.  

The Cavaliers will face a tough test on Sunday, as the Sea Gulls (14-1) extended their current win streak to 14 games with a dominant 30-3 win over SUNY Poly (10-1).

The Sea Gulls outshot the Wildcats 59-7, holding the Northern Athletic Conference champions to just one second half shot, and secured 60 ground balls to just 20 for SUNY Poly.

Senior Pierre Armstrong and graduate student Griffin Moroney led the Salisbury attack, as the duo combined for 17 points on eight goals and 11 dimes, while senior Jarrett Bromwell marked his name in the scoring column five times.

The Sea Gulls won 32 of the game's 37 faceoffs, with seniors Brett Malamphy and Brad Greik combining to g a perfect 19-19.

Salisbury's defensive unit kept senior goaltender TJ Ellis clean, as the senior was called on for just one save. The unit pressured SUNY Poly into 30 turnovers, with graduate student Kevin Murphy and sophomore Braden Glushakow accounting for three caused turnovers each.