Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 5/17/17
The Cabrini men’s lacrosse team could not duplicate its efforts of April 14, as the Cavaliers suffered a 17-5 loss at No. 2 Salisbury in the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Tournament Sednesday night.
The loss ends the Blue and White’s 12 game win streak and closes Cabrini’s season with a 17-4 record, tying the program record for single season wins.
The defeat also ends the careers of Cabrini’s seven seniors, Evan Downey, Steve Halko (Springfield-Delco), Ryan Hannan, Ben Junior (Radnor), Colin McGavin, Patrick Regan and Nick Vass. Among the most successful classes in program history, these your men led the Cavaliers to 62 wins, including a perfect 27-0 marks in CSAC games, four conference titles and four NCAA Tournament wins.
Downey paced the Blue and White offense today, netting a pair of goals, while sophomores Timmy Brooks (Haverford School) and Jordan Krug (Cherokee-NJ) joined freshman Jake Klein with one goal each.
Junior Riley Michaels (Pottsgrove) went 7-14 at the faceoff spot, while classmate Zack Gregory (Conestoga) went 6-11 and scooped a team high five ground balls.
Freshman goaltender Matt Nestler recorded 13 saves and four ground balls, while fellow rookie Tyler Kostack (Marple Newtown) paired four ground balls and two caused turnovers.
The Cavaliers fell behind in the early minutes, as the Sea Gulls scored the game’s first two goals. Krug put Cabrini on the board at the 10:55 mark, before Salisbury responded with three unanswered goals to build a 5-1 lead after the first quarter.
Downey cut into the Cavaliers’ deficit early in the second, but the Sea Gulls ran off eight consecutive goals spanning the second and third quarters, extending their lead to 13-2 midway through the third.
Klein’s unassisted tally briefly stopped the Salisbury run, before Downey and Brooks ended the scoring in the final minutes of the game.
The Cavaliers were outshot 47-30, while Salisbury secured 40 ground balls to 27 for Cabrini. The Blue and White also committed a season high 21 turnovers and successfully completed just 11 of 17 clear attempts.
Carson Kalama led Salisbury (20-1) with six goals, while Nathan Blondino paired two goals and five assists in the win. Kyle Tucker earned game high honors with seven ground balls and caused two turnovers.
With the win, Salisbury advances to Sunday’s NCAA Tournament national semifinal round. The Sea Gulls will host No. 7 Denison (17-1), after the Big Red topped No.16 Lynchburg 18-9. Sunday’s other national semifinal will pit No. 8 Wesleyan (20-1) and No. 3 RIT (19-2).
Wesleyan 14, Bates 13
Senior goalie Ted Bergman (Strath Haven) had 13 saves and four groundballs as well as the game-saving stop as time ran out as host Wesleyan claimed the thrilling quarterfinal win.