Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 4/30/09
Senior Matthew Fritz scored four goals as visiting Villanova advanced to the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Championship Wednesday game after a stunning 9-7 win over top-seeded and ninth-ranked Hofstra.
The win advanced the Wildcats (10-5) into a meeting Saturday night at Towson, which crushed Drexel, 10-2. Hofstra (11-3) had just defeated Villanova, 10-3, four days earlier.
The Pride had taken a 7-5 lead with 9:37 to play when Michael Colleluori (Ridley) had his second assist of the day on a goal by Kevin Ford. But Fritts scored to make it 7-6 and
Tim Driscoll (two goals) tied it with 6:56 to play.
Mike Brennan put the Wildcats up to stay 32 seconds later and Kevin Cunningham added insurance with 3:30 to play.
Villanova senior goalkeeper Andrew DiLoreto made 11 saves in another standout performance. Eddie DiDonato (La Salle) paced the defense with three groundballs and two caused turnovers while Bryan McCartney (Archbishop Wood) had three groundballs and one caused turnover.
For the first time since 2004 the Wildcats will be playing in the CAA Championship game. Villanova.
Towson 10, Drexel 2
Will Harrington scored four goals, all in the third period, as the Tigers defeated the Dragons in the other CAA semifinal.
The top-seeded Cavaliers will play for their ninth consecutive Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) crown following a victory against the No. 4 seeded Griffins. Cabrini (13-3) will host No. 2 seed Marywood University Saturday at 1 p.m.
Cabrini extended the nation’s longest conference win streak to 87 games, including the postseason, dating back to the 2001 campaign. Ninth-year head coach Steve Colfer, named the conference coach of the year for the fifth time earlier Wednesday, is 87-0 all-time versus league opponents.
Casey Grugan (Ridley) and sophomore Paul Skulski (Garnet Valley) led the Cavaliers’ offense, each recording six points. Grugan extended the nation’s second-longest consecutive points streak to 54 games with five goals and one assist.
Grugan is now just one assist shy of matching Athletic Hall of Fame honoree Tom Lemieux’s (1999-02) single-season mark of 43 established in 2002.
Skulski tallied two goals and added four assists. Senior Scott Reimer (Downingtown West), Cabrini’s all-time leader in career points (243) and goals (220), notched four points on four goals.
Jordan Coeyman (New Hope-Solebury) chipped in with three points on one goal and two assists. Dan Terenick (Ridley, 2G), sophomore midfielder Joe Strain (1G, 1A) and Brian Hill (Ridley, 1G, 1A) each registered two points.
Mike Dolente (Spring-Ford) led the Cabrini efforts in the face-off circle, winning 8-of-9 draw attempts. Senior Kevin Fahey tallied four face-off wins in seven tries.
Kevin Chenoweth played more than 50 minutes in between the Blue & White pipes, tallying six saves.
Widener 15, Lycoming 9
Senior Justin Upp scored a career-high five goals as the Pioneers (10-8) advanced to the Middle Atlantic Conference finals with the win over the No. 2 seed. Widener will be in search of its fifth straight conference title and 12th overall. The Pride will face top-seeded FDU-Florham, a 10-8 winner over No. 4 seed Elizabethtown, on Saturday.
JJ Hoeffler added three goals for Widener and Andrew Janusz added a pair while Kevin Carney (Ridley) made 15 saves in goal.
Widener took control by scoring the final six goals of the first quarter, the last five of which came in a span of 3:17 for a 6-2 lead. Upp tallied three goals in that span with sophomore Hoeffler netting two.
The scoring run hit 11 straight with 2:40 to go in the first half as the Pride opened an 11-2 lead. Sophomore Janusz found the back of the net twice in the quarter and Upp netted his fourth in the half for Widener, which owned an 11-4 halftime lead thanks in part to a 22-18 shots edge.
Edward Williams and Rick DeNenno (Kennett) scored three goals apiece for the second-seeded Warriors (11-5).
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