Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 5/2/19
From Press Releases
Gwynedd Mercy advanced to the Atlantic East Men’s Lacrosse Championship with its 10-8 semifinal victory over visiting Marymount Wednesday night in front of a raucous home crowd.
The second-seeded Griffins will now head to top-seeded Cabrini for the Atlantic East Title this Saturday at 1 p.m.. The Cavaliers downed fourth-seeded Neumann, 25-4, in the evening’s other semifinal.
Three goals each from brothers Jordan Dzierzgowski (Washington twp-NJ) and Jacob Dzierzgowski (Washington Twp-NJ) plus two scored from Ryan Simpson (Upper Darby). Nick Freda (Upper merion) and Lucas Gray (Harry S Truman) also tallied for GMercyU, who will be making its fifth appearance in a conference championship game. Jacob also added three assists to lead all scorers with a game-high six points while Jordan tallied a pair of man-up goals.
Gwynedd never trailed in the game, but used a three-goal burst starting late in the third quarter to break a 5-5 tie. The Saints scored twice in the final minute of regulation to make things interesting, but the Griffins were able to cement their spot in the title game.
Clark Akers, Riley Scales, and Matthew Ebert each netted two goals apiece for Marymount, the third seed.
Leading 3-1 after the first and 5-3 at the half, GMercyU saw the Saints get a man-down goal from Ebert and a score from Scales with 3:45 left in the third. Jacob Dzierzgowski quickly turned the tide scoring just 15 seconds later to take the lead for good. After a faceoff win from Nick Heiler (Lansdale Catholic), Dzierzgowski zinged in his second of the night for a 6-5 edge.
Gray and Simpson scored 15 seconds apart early in the fourth to give the Griffins a three-goal cushion. Later in the stanza Jacob set up Jordan for the team’s third man-up goal followed by a tally from Jacob to make it 10-6. The Saints did not go out quietly, getting a pair of goals from Akers.
Cabrini 25, Neumann 4
The No. 6 Cabrini men’s lacrosse team was in full postseason mode Wednesday 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.
Cabrini 25, Neumann 4
Thirteen Cavaliers marked the scoring column as the Blue and White paired 60 shots and just nine turnovers. Senior Jordan Krug (Cherokee-NJ) 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 (Marple Newtown) and Sean Wagner joined juniors Mike Gerzabek (Springfield-Delco) and Ty Moschella (Garnet Valley) added two goals each. Junior Tyler Kostack (Marple Newtown) 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 (Haverford High) went 10-18, while freshman Jake Huey (Marple Newtown) went 7-8.
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 (Interboro) secured seven ground balls. Junior goaltender Brendan Risley (Ridley) suffered the loss despite 15 saves in 34 minutes of work.
The Griffins will face the Cavaliers for the seventh time in the postseason, and fifth occasion in the final.
